Returning Shadow's
by Oceanera12
Summary: (SEQUAL.) Nicole the Hegehog is finally coming home...right? Just when she thinks her life is going back to normal, assassins strike. Now she must hunt down the killer's before their mission is acomplished. Old and new friends will unite, along with the return of her...Ex-Boyfriend? Mercenaries, Dimension Jumpers, and the clone of Shadow. What could go wrong? (DISCONTINUED)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everyone. Currently I am in the car and can't believe I have wi-fi. Here's the first chapter of my newest story. WARNING: It ends in a cliff-hanger and I'm not sure when I'm going to get on here again. But please review! And for the people sitll with me, You guys are Amaze! ACTION!**

Nicole's POV:

Not for the last time, I groaned as I pushed the old GUN motorcycle along the road. "You had to break down..." I scolded the bike.

After the month of recovering (or at least partial recovering) I decided it was time to head back in order to get to the speech on time. The only problem was I had no reserved chaos energy and no chaos emerald. So the only way I could actually get to the capital was by an old GUN motorcycle I found in the basement. The said bike was in very bad condition so it was no surprise that it broke down...an hour ride from the Capital.

It was January 1 about 9 am...and I was going to be late for Arianna's speech...great. I had had the whole thing planned out too. Arrive at the Capital Building two hours before the speech, have my little reunion and help my sister with her nervousness. Now it was five minute's 'til the ceremony started and I was still a half an hour away. Slowly, I dragged my feet forward as reality sank in and I wanted to kick the bike off the road. I was literally the worst sister ever.

"You had to leave the latest possible date..." I groaned aloud as the city finally came into view.

Shadow's POV:

I was mad. No, that is an understatement. I was furious. Not only did I have to attend a public event; not only did Arianna have to pretend she was recovering from being insane; not only was the event running behind the actual time; but Nicole was still missing.

About one in the morning, Arianna woke up screaming. I rushed to her room to comfort her, but it didn't help. After a little persuasion and chaos energy, she fell asleep around three am. Her nightmares were getting better about three months ago, but now...I wasn't so sure. As I tried to help her, I knew it was doing very little to cure her. True, she wasn't insane, but I felt like I was trying to cure her from something far worse.

About ten minutes after she fell asleep, I crept back to my room while pondering her recent dream.

This time she woke up because she had killed Cosmo...

I shivered. I wasn't sure how I actually felt about my clones, especially Arianna. Over those two, torturous, years, Nicole had grown on me...but Arianna... I shook off the thought. _"Help her get through this, then work out your annoying feelings..."_ When I arrived at my sleeping quarters, I checked my phone again. No messages from Nicole, just a text the Faker sent me about wishing Arianna good luck. I snapped the phone shut.

Finally, my alarm went off at five am. I hadn't gone back to sleep... Since I was the only member of First Generation that actually was actively involved with GUN and Second Generation (and the only person who was willing), it was my responsibility to wake up the kids for early morning training...which always turned into a very interesting experience.

For instance, when Jr was woken up by anyone who liked to be loud, he usually jumped out of the bed and yelled something random. And since I usually just banged on the door or opened the door and yelled at them, he was very unpredictable. This morning, the random thing was... _Miley?_ I shook my head. _Note to self; no telling Annie about that._

Speaking of her, I usually had to duck when I woke her up. For reason's I never understood, the pink hedgehog liked to sleep with her hammer drawn. And it wasn't just any hammer...I had to deal with an exploding hammer. Always interesting.

Miley usually woke up with a new idea for some robot or other. This morning she rolled over to face me then started telling me about a new device she dreamed up. Something about a watch to turn you invisible...I knew she'd be working on it before the day was over.

Across the hall from Jr, was the red echidna. Arnold just sat up and stretched then remarked about how early you had to get up for an adventure.

My personal favorite one was Topaz (when she was here). She was usually already up and liked to try and sneak up on me. 99.99% of the time, I caught her. Of all the times, only once did she ever win. Unfortunately for me, that morning she wasn't with us, but she'd be at the speech.

The only one I didn't yell or bang at was Arianna. Everyday, I gently shook her awake and she quietly got up.

In fact, the only one I didn't wake up ever was Cosmo. She slept on the other side of the faculty and never joined us for training.

Anyway, after a short training session, we headed off for the capital building. When we arrived, the whole thing was a mess. As soon as we stepped out of limo the president sent, Arianna immediately ducked from a tomato. Without another word, we hurried through the many protestors and mob into the capital. At one point, Annie had to pull out her hammer and threaten the pressing people. They backed up pretty quick... By the time we got to safety, Arianna was crying.

Cosmo cleaned off any smashed fruit and spoke softly to her in a comforting manner. Sadly, Arianna wasn't very comforted.

She sobbed softly, "I want Nikki..."

I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Still no sign of Nikki. No sign of her when we were getting ready for the speech. No sign of her when the President finally joined us. No sign of her when the ceremony started at last. No sign of her when Arianna was pardoned. No sign of her when Arianna got up to speak. _"Nicole, I'm going to kill you."_

Nicole's POV:

I pulled up to the capital building just as the president finished his pardon. Silently, I cursed myself.

"You had to be late for you're own sister's speech..." I growled to myself. Before anyone noticed, I pulled the black hoddie over my head so no one would regonize me. Rather quickly, I rushed into the crowd before anyone noticed.

Arianna was already talking rather softly and gently. "Tha"nk you, everyone. Thanks for coming... I know that I've done a lot of terrible things to you, but I am so sorry. I know that is not enough to just apologize, I have to show it."

My sister went on like that for several minutes. While she was talking I looked around on the stage at who was actually a good friend. Shadow stood about 2 feet away on her right in a comforting manner...which didn't look as strange as it would have a year ago. Cosmo was on the other side for encouragement. On the chairs in the back row, we had the rest of Team Sonic...and an extra empty chair next to where my sister was sitting.

"You are a terrible sister..." I mumbled to myself again. Quietly, I listened to the rest of the speach and tried to figure out how to apoligize.

As Arianna finished up, I slowly began to make my way forward... Maybe I can catch her when she is leaving the area...

"Thank you all. Have a great day." Arianna smiled and waved. Over to the right Shadow nodded at the crowd then mumbled something to Ari. Probably something about leaving soon. Ari nodded and turned to go.

Suddenly, gunshot rang out. The crowd screamed out in alarm and began to run around in a panicked frenzy.

I felt my blood go cold as Arianna screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Who missed me? Anyway, the internet is a bit spotty so I'm not sure how long it will take to up load this. So thanks to everyone who reviewed, but due to the internet, I can't comment on them. Sorry. Let us go on with the story!**

Nicole's POV:

Okay, I've had several experiences in my life, but seeing my sister shot was one of the most dramatic and unimaginable of them all.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Why would it be unimaginable?" First of all, everyone loved my sister. (well until the whole Missy thing, but most of them just decided to blame the mental break down on Shadow so almost everyone still loved her). Some one shooting me; sure, some one shooting Shadow; could happen, but Ari? Never crossed my mind once.

So while every civilian, human and mobian alike, was panicking I pushed my way to the stage entrance. By the time I got there, GUN soldiers had moved in to secure the perimeter. The four guards by the door halted me.

"Halt. No access past this point. Please make you're way to the nearest exit." The leader told me in a 'no arguing' tone.

Softly, I groaned. "I don't have time for this." Without another word, I jumped over the guards and ran into the back stage area.

"Hey! Halt! Stop!" The four guards were quickly joined by several other soldiers. I ignored them.

After a brief fight with one of the body guards, I ran onto the stage.

Cosmo was leaning over Arianna with a serious expression. Standing over her guarding, was Shadow who was looking in the direction of a building across the street. He stood so if another shot rang out, Ari would be shielded.

The rest of 2nd Generation, along with 1st Generation, were rushing through the crowd to the said building. Vaguely, I made out Sonic and Jr already on top of the building.

Well, I didn't really have time to figure any of that out because the guards just caught up.

"Hey!" The leader cried a warning. As the guards raised their guns, I sprang forward and tried to disable them without causing permanent damage.

By this point, Shadow turned around and got in between Ari and I. When I finished with the guards he got in a fighting position.

Finally, I stood up straight and crossed my arms. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Shadow..."

My befuddled mentor straightened up. "Nicole?"

Well, I didn't answer him, but rushed next to Cosmo while finally pulling off my hood. "Please tell me she's-"

"She's alive, but she needs medical attention. Stat." Lucky for me, Cosmo learned how to keep her cool during an emergency. So she didn't freak when I appeared out of the blue. Anyway, she motioned for Shadow to get over here.

He shook off his slight confusion and obeyed Cosmo.

"Okay, she's stable now, but you need to take her to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. Now gently take her as fast as you can go without breaking the sound barrier."

Rather quickly, Shadow picked up Ari and sped off. I watched them disappear in the distance then turned to Cosmo.

"Don't say a word."I growled

As I finished speaking, the nurse fox closed her already opening mouth. After that we just waited.

Ethan's POV:

It started with the news. It had been a month since Char- I mean Nicole left and well, my life was a mess. I literally had no idea what to do. Waiting on people was behind me, the band broke up when Nikki left, and no mercenary related thing had swung into my life

To be honest, I had tried to move on. I really had, but Nicole is hard to move on from. I finally just decided to do a solo act. So I performed for birthdays, parties, ect. with my trusty guitar. But even that happiness was hallow. Eventually, I tried to figure out where Nicole was. At least I wasn't sitting in the dark of what was happening to her.

Well I didn't count on the fact that no one knew where she was. Every morning I'd turn on the news, watch for an hour, work on songs, eat lunch and watch the news for another hour, work on music again, and then watch the news 'til I was falling asleep in my chair. Unless I had gig or had to go shopping for food, I pretty much stayed home.

That all change on new years. So I was watching Arianna's speech like every other person in the world, and I saw her get shot. My first reaction was; What the heck was that? The camera swooped around as the crowd panicked and the camera was carried around. Even the news anchors were too shocked to do anything but run. When the crowd cleared out, the camera was left on the ground facing the stage. Just as the people cleared, I saw a hooded figure run up on the stage. They turned and began to fight the security guards.

Immediately, I knew it was Nicole. Sure enough, she took off her hood and knelt down next to her sister.

I was glued to the TV for the rest of the day. Around midnight, the press finally released the report. They touched five facts:

1\. Arianna had been shot, but was in stable condition and would recover.

2\. When Ari had turned around, she had saved her life. The bullet that was intended for her heart, had went straight through her right shoulder.

3\. The shooter had made a clean get away and their ID was unknown

4\. As soon as she'd been shot, Nicole the Hedgehog made her sudden appearance.

5\. Most authority's (and everyone else) suspected that the shooter was Nicole.

I felt my blood begin to boil when that last fact was stated. Slowly I took deep breaths to try and calm down. _"She's not your responsibility and she doesn't want anything to do with me."_

The news story continued for a little longer when...

 _"We've just gotten word that the shooter was caught on a security tape from the rooftop where he was positioned. Although, authorities can't see the suspect clearly, they have discovered that they're a mobian."_

The next clip was the video. It was rather fuzzy and you only see the shooter for less then a second, but it was all I needed. Startled I leaned forward, "It can't be..."

I was up for the next hour fighting myself. Finally around six in the morning I made up my mind. As quickly as possible, I packed my bag and prepped my Dad's old bike. As the sun was finally starting to rise, I looked at my house one last time. Something told me it would be a very long time before I saw it.

By eight o'clock, I was far on the road, heading for the capital.

 **Ta-da! New chapter in which I have mixed feelings about. Okay, so updates are going to be a bit random probably. I will do my best but no promises. Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Woohoo! Next chapter I need DW…which is something I'm sure everyone is looking forward to. So returning characters…also some new ones… you'll see. Okay, reviews.**

 **Nohailzone: I'm glad you enjoyed it and we'll have to see how much Shadow wants to kill Ethan.**

 **Meadow of Starlight: I'm glad Ethan here's too.**

 **Christian Wolf27: Well that's just a HUGE spoiler. Have patience, you'll see.**

 **DylanDamboise321: Loved the pun. Also spoilers in which I am not giving away. Have patience! (:**

Nicole's POV:

I will never go missing ever again. I'm serious.

So immediately one minute after Shadow had left with Ari, Team Sonic (both Generations) showed up. At least Cosmo was quiet when I showed up…

The following hour was constant questioning by everyone, even as we made our way to the hospital. I didn't answer any of them.

Miley must have realized how uncomfortable it was and made everyone shut it. But that didn't change the tense feeling in the air…Jr was especially dancing with excitement.

The next 24 hours all of us spent at the hospital, nervous and tense. As for the shooter…well, Miley described it the best to me.

"Well, after the gunshot and the crowd going wild, Shadow ran over to Arianna and examined her. He then pointed at a tall building and shouted at Sonic to get his tail over there and find the gunner. Jr and Sonic got there first, but didn't see anything. Man, that guy must have taken off immediately after firing, because no one got even a glimpse of the guy. Anyway, when we got up there, all we found was a few abandoned fire arms and a single shell casing. The sniper rifle wasn't found so they must have taken off with it. Other than that, nothing. Not even a crumb." Miley blew at her bangs in frustration.

No sign of the idiot, or anything. In fact, that's how it stayed for the whole week. By this point, Arianna was stable and would be fine. The only thing Team Sonic was concerned with was who's the shooter, what does he want, and if and when he's going to strike again…well that was supposed to be their only concern.

"For the last time, none of your business!" I snapped in frustration.

Jr ran around the briefing table and halted next to me. Leaning over, "Well your back and we should know about this 'mission' Shadow sent you on, right? Did you leave the country?" The hedgehog grinned.

Across the table, Miley giggled…which was a bit strange.

Annie seemed to have a different view on the whole vanishing act. "So…who is it?"

"Who's who?"

She smirked at me. "Oh come on, a whole year! There's no way a mission takes that long. I'm thinking you got ticked at Mr. Grumpy over there," she gestured towards a very quiet Shadow, "and ran away with somebody. A very special somebody…' Annie gave a sly smile at me.

Topaz interrupted the conversation. "Who would want to go out with _her_?" With a disgusted look on her face, her disbelief was clear.

Pinky shrugged, "Someone with very strange tastes." The two friends nodded at one another in agreement.

I rolled my eyes, hiding my anger from everyone. "Can we get back to the situation at hand please?" I motioned at the clip playing on the TV.

True, it was blurry and the suspect was only there for a second, but you can always hope.

Across the room, Arnold just glared at the video. "Well, we know it's a Mobian, but that's it. How can someone be there, then not?"

"Teleporting?" Miley suggested.

"Teleporters, oh I hate teleporters!" Jr groaned.

Miley smiled. "Don't we all, Jr?"

He smirked back.

Okay… I shook my head. "Well we know that they can move quickly, most likely by teleportation. Also, they're a trained assassin."

"Is he?" Annie interrupted.

"Is who what?"

Another smirk, "You're boyfriend."

Trying to keep my cool, I gripped the table. "He's not my boyfriend…"

"But you admit there was a boy?"

Curse Topaz.

The girls high-fived in celebration.

With my anger growing, I threw my hands up, "If you want to talk about someone's love life why don't you ask your brother?"

Annie rolled her eyes, "Him? He couldn't get a date even if it meant chili dogs."

Everyone started laughing (except Shadow and I). Jr joined in a bit nervously. "Yeah…chili dogs."

I think Topaz noticed. Slowly, she raised an eyebrow, "Jr? Is there something you aren't telling us?"

A bit rushed Jr denied her accusation, but the subject had been successfully changed.

"Sonic Hedgehog Jr…" Annie threatened.

Poor Jr…I actually felt a little bad for doing that, but I'd rather deal with this mess then talk about Ethan. That name still sent me into a panic.

"I…I…um…" Jr looked about ready to bolt for the door.

Across from me, Miley looked just as uncomfortable. Her eyes darted around the room, nervously.

"Jr! Spit it out!" Arnold looked a bit bored and amused at the same time.

Surprisingly, Jr actually crumbled. "It wasn't my fault!"

Miley sprang up. "Excuse me?!"

Oh boy…this is going to get interesting.

A bit surprised, Annie just sat quietly along with Topaz.

"What do you mean, _'It wasn't your fault?_ '" Miley hissed.

Jr shrank back a little. "Uh…I meant that it wasn't my fault that I fell for a lovely girl."

Miley glared daggers at Jr.

"A lovely fox," Jr amended.

"Oh…then why didn't you say that first?"

"I was desperate!"

"Hold it!" Annie threw up a time out sign. Slowly, she turned on Miley, "You're dating, my brother?!"

"You're dating Arnold!"

"That's different!"

"It is not. You kept it a secret just as we did."

Topaz nodded in understanding. "She's got a point there."

About that point, I lost track of the conversation.

A few moments later, Shadow had enough. "Enough!" He marched forward. "Your dating, the end. Now move on. We have bigger problems. Ari's want-to-be-killer is still out there and will strike again. Now we can't have this right now. _Do you all understand?"_

I think it's safe to say that my Mentor was angry. Quickly (a little too quick if you ask me) everyone nodded.

Shadow exhaled. "Good. Now let's get on to more important things."

Jr leaned next to Miley, "Yeah, like who's Nikki's boyfriend."

Miley sniggered.

Not sure why I got so mad at that. I think part of the problem was I was already angry at this shooter, and the whole 'boyfriend' thing made my blood boil.

Furious, I whirled around, "He's not my boyfriend!"

Miley looked a bit scared and ashamed, but I didn't really have the chance to apologize because at that exact moment…

Okay, my life's weird, but this was defiantly WEIRD.

A gray hedgehog fell out of the sky.

 **Nicole: Sure? Why not? Random hedgehog's falling from the sky! *folds arms***

 **Me: *shrugs* DW's idea. Say hello to her character.**

 **Nicole: Hello strange hedgehog.**

 **Me: Anyway, review please!**

 **Nicole: This story just got weird…**

 **Me: …How so? It's no weirder then you being Charity.**

 **Nicole: *glares death daggers at me***

 **Me: *steps away* Umm…bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: Well! We're here! Are you excited DW. DW? *Looks around in confusion* Okay where is she?**

 **Nicole: I don't know. Maybe she grabbed some popcorn?**

 **Me: *shakes head* She better bring some apples.**

 **Cosmo: *pokes head in room.* Um…Era? DW…isn't coming.**

 **Me: *blinks* What…do…you…mean…she's…not…coming?**

 **Cosmo: *shrinks back* She can't get here in time and said that you're on your own.**

 **Me: Great! Just when I need her she doesn't show up! This is what I get when I allow her to put a character in! *begins to fumble with papers.* How does this guy act again?**

 **Nicole: *sighs.* It can't be that difficult. Just have him read the lines.**

 **Me: *stops and glares at Nikki.* It's not that simple…he's a-"**

 **Nicole: Say what?**

 **Me: Never mind. Now get to your places! We'll have to do our best!**

 ***Nicole and Cosmo run onto the stage***

 **Nicole: Who is this guy?!**

 **Me: I'll explain later. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry, but I'm a bit panicky right now so I'm not going to make comments. Although, Dylan I loved the book review thing. Anyway… *deep breaths* ACTION!**

Nicole's POV:

"Ow…" The gray hedgehog sat up. Slowly, he looked around the room and bit confused. "Um…"

I examined the strange hog. He was wearing a leather jacket, dark colored jeans, a dark red shirt, and had a golden belt around his waist. It sort of looked like something a mercenary would be found in…which made me think of Ethan.

I decided that I didn't like him.

Shadow was so startled that he didn't say anything.

As for the other youth, they were just as startled. Jr literally fell over on to the floor. Across the table, Miley stood up. Annie screamed right along with Topaz. Arnold was probably the most boring (he tilted his head). Meanwhile, I didn't flinch, which surprised everyone (including myself).

In a pretty arrogant voice, the stranger asked, "Where am I? Why did you bring me here? Who are you people?"

I frowned and looked at Shadow off to the side. "Can I hit him?"

The hedgehog crossed his arms and gave me a glare. _"We'll exscuuuuse me! Who do you think you are?!"_

A bit sassy I just crossed my arms and glared back. "Nicole. Nicole Ultimate. And you're sitting on _my_ table so who's in charge here?"I decided I defiantly did not like this guy.

"Would you like to tell me why you decided to kidnap me, Miss High and Mighty Nicole? You know what, that name just doesn't fit you." The hedgehog didn't seem very scared of me, which was something I did not enjoy…which was sort of strange since I didn't like people thinking me to be scary.

"First of all, we didn't kidnap you. You just fell out of the sky! Second of all, if my name doesn't fit me, then what would you call me Mr…okay what's your name?"

The hedgehog sat up a little taller. "Manic. Manic Kingsley. Maybe Nikki. No…Nik. Just Nik."

I narrowed my eyes at Manic. Defiantly didn't like him. "If you call me that I will personally shoot you through the head."

The hedgehog smiled smugly. "Whatever you say…Nik."

I growled under my breath. _"Can I hit him now?"_

Finally getting over his shock, Shadow stepped forward. "Stop it. Both of you."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Manic sit up straight with his hair sticking out. He turned towards Shadow with wide eyes and a really tense look.

By this point Jr stood up and just stared at Manic. "Um…chili dogs…burning…wha-?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Everyone go to your dorms. We'll continue this meeting in the morning." He motioned at me to stay put with Gray boy.

After everyone slowly, but surely left the room, Shadow mumbled under his breath. "Kingsley…where have I heard that…?"

Manic just sat there wide eyed. "Sh-Shadow! What a surprise t-to see you here."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you know him?"

Slowly, Shadow shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of…who are you kid?"

Manic mumbled something about…dimension travel? Okay then…

"I, uh, I'm, um."

"Oh spit it out already, you're wasting my time."

"Oh, like you're being any help, Princess. You try dimensionally traveling and landing on your head and see how you feel about it!"

Now let me point out. I was in a bad mood from the whole 'boyfriend' thing and now I'm dealing with an arrogant and bossy boy. I clenched my fists and scowled. "That's it!" Before Shadow could react I pounced at the kid.

Unfortunately…that kid has some fast reflexes. He easily dodged me and I went sliding off the table on the other side. Manic just rolled off the table and landed on his feet. As he started to make some comment (probably about how slow I was) I launched myself at him again. And…he dodged again. This went on for another ten seconds before I teleported directly behind him and pinned him to the table.

And of course that's when Shadow decided to step in. He pulled me off the dumb kid and yelled, "Enough you two!" Roughly, he pushed me off to the side and yanked the kid up. "Now let's figure out what we're going to do before you try to kill each other." Shadow faced the kid after glaring at me.

And…Manic was standing at attention.

"Where are you from? Who are you exactly? And don't just state your name, because that is _not_ useful." Shadow crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes into an 'I'm serious' glare.

Manic nervously swallowed. "I'm Manic Kingsley, Prince of Acronoa. Son of Star and Will Kingsley."

Now that got my attention. "You're Mary's son? Wow…and I thought my life was weird. But that has to be weird. Although having Shawnee has an aunt has to be fun." Of course the idiot's a prince…

 **(("STOP!" "What Cosmo?" "Who the heck is Mary? And this Shawnee character?" "Okay, really really long story short: Star and Shawnee Kingsley are another dimension's version of Sonic and Shadow. Star (Mary) is Sonic and Shawnee is Shadow. The two of them married…a bit strangely. Star married another dimension's version of Knuckles (except he's a pacifist and a hedgehog) named Will and Shawnee married…well let's just say she married herself." "Meaning…?" "She married a Shadow. Any other questions?" "Yes. How does Nicole know them?" "The two sisters (yes they are sisters. Twins to be exact. Although neither of them know who's older at this point…don't ask) specialize in dimension jumping (Star) and time travel (Shawnee). They landed here during the whole Missy episode, but we didn't really mention it because it's so hard to understand (and DW is working on posting the story on here. We'll have a link when it is finally published.) Are we done for now?" "Yeah, I think we're good." "Great, now no more interrupting!"))**

"Yeah, Aunt Shawnee is great. Her husband... Not so much."

I just shrugged. "I personally have never met that Shadow so I have no opinion."

Manic just nodded then seemed to do a double take. "Wait, how do you know them? Where am I?!"

I smiled a bit smug. "Welcome to Dimension Omega. I'm Nicole, you're personal tour guide. Over to your right, we have Shadow the Hedgehog. To your left, me. Are you done yet?"

Okay, I was a little mean, but once again, I was in a VERY bad mood.

Manic just stared, and then groaned. "Omega? That's so far from home..."

Once again, I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I've never really dimension jumped…time traveled on the other hand…" I trailed off as an image of Maria before the gunshot entered my head. I shook myself awake. _"Focus Nicole! First the gray boy, then Ari."_

Shadow frowned. "Can you get home? Because I really don't need Star mad at me…" The very thought of that freaked me out (although I'd prefer Star's anger over Shawnee's any day.)

Manic just shook his head helplessly, "I wouldn't know where to go in the first place."

Annoyed I rolled my eyes, "Then how'd you get here?"

"Well, it's rather hard to control dimensional travel…Let's see I had gotten in an argument with my Mother and Aunt…then there was a flash of light which was probably me entering The Void. After that everything was sort of a blur until I fell out onto your table… Did any of you have any large energy spikes in the last ten minutes?"

Shadow frowned in my direction. "I think we may have…"

Slowly, I felt my face go red. _"I really need to learn to control my anger. I don't know how many hedgehogs from the sky I can take…"_

Manic didn't notice. "Well, I just want to go home! Can't you show me the way?"

Before he finished, I was already shaking my head. "Manny Boy, I would love to show you the way home, but unfortunately, your Mother is the only one who knows the Void like the back of her hand. So you're sort of stuck here…with me…in Omega…Oh Chaos, I hate my life sometimes…"

Manic didn't respond right away. "Manny Boy?"

I scrunched my face. "Never mind. How about Maniac? No that's dumb. Maybe I should call you Grayson…"

The boy just blinked. "Um…"

After that I decided that I'd figure out a nickname later. "Never mind."

"Well," Shadow cut in, "now that that's settled, we can go back to the matter at hand."

"That someone fell on their head?" Cosmo marched into the room right up to Manic. "Sit down and let me examine your head."

"Um…no I'm good. Hard heads run in the family, so a little conk won't do much."

"Sit down. _Now._ " Cosmo gave her 'no arguing' glare. Manic sat down.

Shadow motioned for me to follow him out of the room. As we walked out of the room, I heard Cosmo order the gray hedgehog to follow her. Something told me that the hospital was about to have a new patient.

After a few moments of silence in the halls, Shadow finally spoke. "Alright, what's chewing at you?"

"First of all, never say that again." That sentence coming from him just sounded so wrong. "Second of all, I'm fine."

"No…you're not. And something tells me it wasn't just Maria…"

Okay…spending time with Arianna defiantly did some good things for Shadow. He said the blonde's name and nobody was about to die…

Around this point we were in the garden (yes, GUN as a courtyard garden…I'm pretty sure it was for Arianna…).

Shadow motioned for me to sit down on a bench. He took a seat in a wicker chair across from me. "Well, I don't think so…now what's wrong."

I sighed. "You're going to do therapy? Seriously? Don't you already do this with Arianna?" I began to stand up, but Shadow gently pushed me back down.

"Which is why I'm doing it with you. Now spill it."

Humbled and impressed in one day. I think I hate today. Slowly, I leaned back, "Shadow…when you were training us, you taught us a bunch of rules like; 'use your powers only for good,' and; 'earth first then yourself.' Right?"

Shadow nodded. "Yes…what about it?"

"There was one rule I never really understood… 'No making relationships of any sort.' So no making friends, allies, or anything of that sort, right?"

Again, the mentor nodded, but a bit slower this time.

"You said we could have the whole sister relationship, and of course friendships we have in Team Sonic…but nothing else." I looked up at him and then looked back at my hands. "Why do we have that guideline?"

Shadow didn't answer for quite some time. "Remember Maria?"

I nodded. "Of course…"

"Remember how I tried to destroy the world?"

"Who could forget that?" I asked smiling. "You were a jerk."

"True…but I saved it so I wasn't a complete jerk." Softly, he sighed. "I made that rule so you wouldn't become like me. If I almost destroyed humanity because of one human killing Maria, then I could only imagine the disaster that could happen if something happened to Arianna. Or vice versa, depending on whom it was. Originally, I didn't even want the two of you to even affiliate with Team Sonic, but GUN didn't really like that. Neither did the public voice…"

As I looked up, I saw a different hedgehog then the one I'd always known. This one was afraid of what his mistakes would lead too…and for the first time in my life I felt like I was looking at the real Shadow. He was tough, he was a bit scary, but he was more scared of himself then of anyone else. One bad move by him, then everyone would not only hate him…but hate Arianna and me (and in my case, hate me more.). No one really cared about him. The second the public saw him as a threat, the gun was pulled. In the long scheme of things, Shadow was standing alone against the world…

In the back of my head, I remembered an old song that I wrote in the Mistress Years.

 _Song: Me Against the World_

 _Artist: Simple Plan_

 _We're not gonna be just a part of their game  
We're not gonna be just the victims  
They're taking our dreams and they tear them apart  
'Til everyone's the same_

 _I've got no place to go  
I've got nowhere to run  
They'd love to watch me fall  
They think they know it all_

 _I'm a nightmare, a disaster  
That's what they always said  
I'm a lost cause, not a hero  
But I'll make it on my own  
I've gotta prove them wrong  
Me against the world_

 _It's me against the world_

If anyone was alone, it was Shadow…

"Why do you ask?"

I snapped back to the present. "What?"

My mentor sighed in disapproval. "What have I said about focus? Why do you ask about that rule?" He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Um…I was just wondering." I rubbed the back of my neck.

I don't think he believed me, but decided that he wouldn't get any more info. "Alright, Arianna wanted to see you before the end the day, so you'd better get going."

Cursing myself, I rushed off towards the medical wing. About five minutes later I burst into Arianna's room.

Startled, my elder sister looked up. "Well look who finally decided to show up." Ari gave a small smile.

"Sorry, Shadow wanted to talk to me…" I sat down at the foot of the bed. "How you doing?"

Ari shrugged then winced from the pain. "Been better…but have also been worse." Her face paled at that last thought.

Quickly, I changed the subject. "Well, we still haven't found the shooter, but I'm not losing hope. We'll find him. He can't hide forever."

Arianna gently squeezed my hand. "You're a great sister…thanks Nikki."

Over in the next room, we heard a muffled yell and several things crash around.

I frowned. "What the heck was that?"

"Not sure, but those noises have been going on for the past 15 minutes." Arianna smiled. "Maybe a cat got lose…again."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"It's happened before…" My sister smiled at me. "When you do that…you look a lot like Shadow."

Not really surprised at that news, I looked at the floor. "That's what I'm afraid of…"

Before Ari could respond, Cosmo burst into the room. "Oh my Chaos! If that kid escapes one more time I swear I'm going to throw him in the jail and place him under three locks!"

We Ultimate's looked at each other. "Um…what?" I asked for both of us.

"Oh you're gray friend. He refuses to stay in the hospital bed and is very fidgety. I've literally had to strap him to the bed in order to keep him in this building!"

I just rolled my eyes. "Oh, that's what that noise was…"

"Um…who's this gray friend?" Poor Arianna looked so confused.

A bit reluctantly I told Ari about Manic Kingsley. She nodded and listened carefully until I was finished.

"Must be some kid…I'd love to see a fight between the two of you." True, Cosmo had given up the whole bot making thing, but I think part of her missed all of the action.

Arianna looked horrified at the thought. "Well I wouldn't!"

After that remark, we all laughed and chatted for another hour, until Cosmo insisted that Ari got some sleep. Sadly, we said our goodnights and I left my sister in Cosmo's capable hands.

As I walked back to my room, I couldn't help but wonder where Ethan was… Quickly, I snapped that thought of my head. _"No Ethan. Ethan is a no-no. Now pull yourself together and let's track down this assassin after Arianna."_

"Yes Nicole."

" _Hey, it's for your own good. Remember Shadow."_

"Well maybe I don't care about Shadow."

" _You know that's not true."_

Have I mentioned how much I hate arguing with myself?

 **Me: *sighs in relief* Not too bad if I do say so myself.**

 **Nicole: Wait…didn't you say when you were asking for characters that there was no 'other dimension Sonic's' allowed?**

 **Me: I also said that that was going to come back to haunt me. Now sit back and be happy that I didn't give you amnesia again.**

 **Nicole: Oh, yeah, you just had my sister get shot and brought some crazy prince in the story. Why wouldn't I be mad?**

 **Me: Um…okay. Review please. I'm going to go find DW and kill her for not showing up.**

 **Cosmo: Once again, it's not her fault.**

 **Me: I think I'll give you amnesia and boyfriend problems next…**

 **Cosmo: I thought DW was getting charge over me.**

 **Me:…Oh right. Dang it!**

 **Nicole: Get over it. It's not the end of the world.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: *chases DW in the room* Where were you? I had to do the whole chapter by myself!**

 **DW: *runs away from Oceanera* Don't kill me!**

 **Nicole: As you can see, those two are a bit busy, so thanks to everyone who reviewed. *clears thought and begins to read paper.* Comments by Era:**

 **Meadow of Starlight: Yeah…I prefer time travel over dimensional. This is one of the many debates DW and I get in.**

 **Christian Wolf27: Um…elaborate please? When you just say it was not a good chapter, then I don't know how to make them better…and thank you for saying no offense.**

 **DylanDamboise321: Okay, one thing at a time.**

 **Characters: You're right I have way too many characters…so I'll fix that at the end of this chapter.**

 **Song: Well think about it this way, in Sonic 06, (I know terrible) Shadow sees his future after the whole 'world burns to crisp thing' and it's getting locked up. At some point one of two things will happen after everyone he knows today is dead (since he doesn't age). One, the world will turn against him and either try and kill him or capture him, but he will still try to look after Earth. Or Two, the humans will trust him and he'll stay safe. But seriously, at some point, even if it's 100's of years down the road, it will be the whole world against Shadow. Does that make sense? I personally don't like that song that much, but I thought it was a good comparison.**

 **Cat: What cat? I don't remember a cat…?**

 ***Oceanera is still chasing DW around the room***

 **Nicole: Sorry, it took sooooo long to update, but Era was having issues. DW was hard to get ahold of, and she misplaced the chapter and couldn't work on it. Plus, school started back up and…well you know. Homework. Okay…do I just start the chapter? Or-? You know what, I'm just going to start it. I need to know what happens to my sister! (and if I get to kill Manic…) Let's roll the film…or script…or…whatever!**

Nicole's POV:

Well I had a nice sleep for the first time in months…which was actually very nice.

Unfortunately, as soon as I woke up I had to do three of my least favorite things.

Get the same debriefing as last night

Be on guard duty at the front gate (don't ask why I hate it. It's a very long story)

And introduce Arianna to Manic (or vice versa…whatever)

Okay…the last one wasn't actually that bad, surprisingly.

Manic was so happy to get out of that hospital room…but not so happy to go into another one.

"No more rooms! I want out!"

"Quit your whining, Prince Annoying. Cosmo said 24 hours. You're more than half-way there so just do as you're told!"

Practically dragging the hedgehog into Arianna's room, we made quite an entrance. But Ari seemed to like it. When I turned around, a large smile was upon her face.

"Oh, go ahead! Laugh all you want! It's not my fault he doesn't like it here!" I cried with an annoyed look on my face.

Arianna tried to stop smiling, but ended up laughing instead. I joined in pretty quick because I did have to admit, I probably looked ridiculous.

Over by the locked door, Manic just looked confused. "Um…why are you laughing? No one told a joke or fell on the ground?"

That just made us laugh harder. Poor Manic didn't really understand…so Ari tried to explain, but it just made the whole situation 10 times worse.

Eventually, we just dropped the subject and we finally did proper introductions.

"Okay, Arianna, this is Manic Kingsley. He's the son of Star and Will…although I don't think you met them…" I trailed off in thought then shook myself back to the present, "And of course, Gray meet my older sister, Arianna Ultimate."

Manic did a bow towards my sister. "Nice to meet you."

Arianna just nodded her head, a bit startled. "Um…you too. I'd rise to bow back, but as you can see…"

"Don't worry about it." The hedgehog waved it off.

I just watched the exchange in awe. "No, sassy remarks to my sister…okay then."

Confused, I wandered over to the window and stared out it while Ari and Manic got better acquainted…or rather Manic got more acquainted with Ari. Whenever she asked him a question, he either didn't answer or gave a vague answer.

After an hour, I got bored enough that I left. I told Ari I'd see her later in the day and went to do some training. I was a little rusty on my shooting and Shadow was not pleased with me. When I stopped by Arianna's room for dinner, Manic was long gone, but…Ari seemed a little distracted. Maybe it was because the food was disgusting…

Narrator's POV:

True the food was disgusting, but that was not why Ari was distracted.

After Nicole left to go training, Arianna went a little quiet. Her mind was wandering back to all of those training sessions before…Mistress. She shivered in the memory.

Unfortunately, Manic took that the wrong way. "Oh, is it too cold in here? I can turn up the heat, is you want?"

"No…I was just reliving some…unpleasant memories…" The hedgehog looked down at her hands.

In a chair by the bed, Manic looked out the window. "I know how that is…" his voice very soft.

Ari sighed. "Have you ever-never mind."

"What?" the hedgehog looked at her interested.

"Well…" the girl looked up then back down, "Have you ever done something that seemed as harmless as…putting on a bracelet, thinking that nothing bad could come from it then suddenly found yourself in a situation that made you wish that you were dead and it was all because of that 'harmless' action you did before? You find yourself doing and saying things that you don't really mean and your whole world comes crashing down on you and you're known for that mistake the rest of your life…" Arianna trailed off. Then she sighed, "Of course not, sorry to bother you." She pulled her thin blanket up to her chin and laid back.

What she didn't hear or notice was the whisper that left Manic's mouth. "Yes I have…" The gray hedgehog stared at the injured girl in a new light. But before he could say another word, Cosmo marched into the room.

"Well, Good news Mr. Kingsley, you're free to go. Your 24 hours are up. So if you just check in with the front desk and-" She didn't really get to finish because Manic was already out the door.

"Bye Ari! Nice talking with you!" He called out from the hallway.

Cosmo watched him go then sat down next to Arianna. "Well he seemed nice…don't you think?"

Distracted Arianna nodded, "I guess…but he was a bit distracted and secretive."

"Um…have you looked at yourself recently, girlfriend?"

"I'm serious! He avoided all of my questions didn't give any information about anything. At least I talked about stuff before…" She paled.

In a comforting manner, the nurse patted her hand. "You need to rest. We'll talk in the morning, alright?"

Ari nodded and laid down. "Night Cos."

"Goodnight Arianna…" She shut the door and mumbled, "I hope you don't have nightmares…again."

Manic was very bored…and wasn't exactly sure where he was going. Part of him wanted to run and keep running, but he wasn't much of a runner. Born without super speed or chaos abilities, Manic was the strange one in the family…that and the fact that he just showed up with Star after one of her crazy dimension jumps. She didn't even remember having him, but at least she still had that annoying motherly instinct over him. Sometimes he really hated that…especially today.

Of course Star was mad at him sneaking out with his buddies, but what did she expect? That he would spend the rest of his life in the castle. True, being the prince had its advantages, but it had more disadvantages…like being imprisoned in the castle your whole life…

Angrily, he kicked a rock.

The street lights were beginning to turn on as the sun went down. In the back of Manic's head, he knew he should go back to GUN, but he didn't exactly trust them. Although Arianna seemed pretty trustworthy…at least she sort of understood.

Somewhere after several hours of wandering Manic was joined by Mint. "Hey boy. Where did you run off to?"

Mint wagged his black tail. **((Note: Mint is not exactly a Dog, but picture a big dog and that's pretty much what he looks like.))**

Manic leaned down and rubbed him behind the ears. "You want to show me something?"

The dog barked once then took off down the street. Quickly, the hedgehog followed his long time buddy for the next three miles. After about twenty minutes, Mint stopped in front of a run-down building.

 _Jonny's Juice Bar_

Manic rubbed his dog behind the ears, "Well what's this place?"

The 19 year old's question was answered as three Mobians threw a human out of the facility. The Lemur shook his fist, "And stay out, you Fox!" he laughed as he and his buddies went back in. The golden fox dusted herself off, "This is why, I hate Mercenaries!" she stormed off into the night.

After the angry girl disappeared, Manic looked at the old building then back at his dog. "You really know me, don't you?" Mint wagged his tail eagerly. The hedgehog rubbed him behind the ears then turned towards the building. "Well, let's see if there the same in every dimension…"

Without another word, Manic marched up to the building, swung the door open, and went inside with Mint following right behind.

 **Me: Well, I've calmed down now so I can talk. Alright so addressing the "Too many character issue:"**

 **I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM CHARACTER IDEA'S FROM OTHER PEOPLE. This also means I will not be using any character's that have been previously sent in, so sorry to anyone who was looking forward to the return of Burn, Ivan, and anyone else. Sorry, but it's too much.**

 **In fact these are the** _ **main characters that the following stories will be following: Nicole Ultman, Shadow The Hedgehog, Arianna Ultman, Manic Kingsley, and Ethan Lavar.**_ **There will be about 2 more stories then I will be hanging up my pencil for this story ark… I may do a little spin off every once and a while, but nothing huge unless it's requested. So I have…** _ **Gray Shadows**_ **after this one then** _ **Dying Shadows**_ **.** _ **Gray Shadows**_ **mainly will focus on Manic and *spoiler alert*. Dying Shadows will focus on Nicole's Destiny and explain a few things like; Why she wanted to protect the world from practically the beginning, Why she survived so many assassin attempts on her life, Why Shadow didn't kill her; and Why the cloning process gave her waaaayyyy too much Chaos Energy. So, I hope you all enjoy it. Review please, and be specific in what I'm doing wrong or right please. You guys are AMAZING. Sorry, about the long wait. Ta Ta for now!**

 **DW: Do you guys like Manic? Because you're going to love him at some point… *smiles forebodingly.***

 **Me: DW stop with the spoilers! *chases DW around again.* Bye everyone! Get back here you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hola! I have two songs that I recommend y'all listen to while you read the** _ **beginning**_ **…haven't done that in a while.**

 **Maps by Marron 5  
** _ **OR**_ **  
What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts**

 **Hope you all enjoy this chapter…if anyone is actually reading this thing.**

Nicole's POV:

"I'm getting really tired of that shooter to poke his head up again…" I groaned.

Arianna looked up from her book, "Be patient Nikki, besides where would I be going anytime soon?"

Unfortunately she had a point. How in the world would a would-be-assassin break into a GUN facility? Especially when Ari had a guard on her 24/7, it would be rather difficult to break in.

"Fine…but I just don't like it." I sat down on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

My sister's face darkened. "Alright…just alright. Have you seen the new guy around lately? Shadow came in a few days ago asking about him."

Manic had pretty much vanished after being released from the medical bay, two weeks ago. Personally, I didn't care what happened to tall, dark, and annoying. But if he really was Star's son, then I knew we should probably find him.

"Not sure where he's gone, but I'm sure he'll pop up soon…"

NOVA started to beep suddenly. I pulled out the mirror and flipped it open. "Ugh…Shadow want's me in the debriefing room…again." I glanced at Ari, "Sorry."

"It's fine. Go save the world, again." She smiled sadly.

Without another word, I raced out of the room. Five minutes later, I was being bored through the same debriefing for the past few weeks.

It was literally exactly the same…except for one thing. Half-way through the lecture Nova buzzed. I bit rushed I checked the text message…and my heart almost stopped right there. I stood up, "Will you excuse me for a second?" I rushed out of the room before anyone could answer and sprinted down the hall.

 _It's Ethan. I'm outside the GUN outpost you're at, but the guards aren't letting me in. Do you want me to break in, or do you want to get down here and let me in?_

When I reached the front door I shook myself awake. _"Whoa! Hold it Nikki! There's no way it's Ethan… First of all, he never could have tracked you all the way over here and second of all, how would he have gotten your number. Also, that text did not sound like what he'd say. I mean force his way in? What's he going to do, sing himself in?"_

I took deep breaths. "Just relax…then again it's probably a trap." Quickly, I brushed myself off and fixed my red-goggles. I pushed the door open and stepped out…to yelling.

"Look kid, scram!"

"I told you I'm waiting here for someone so lay off, Bucky!"

I stared in shock as the GUN guard and Ethan glared daggers at each other.

Ethan looked…different. Way different… For starters his clothes were different. Instead of a t-shirt he had a black top under a gray long-sleeved jacket with leather straps up the front, leaving it partially open. His pants matched the jacket and his shoes were gray with black stripes. He had a black hip and thigh gun holster, each holding G-32s (same gun Shadow and I use). The other thing that was 'different' was the way he…just was. His face looked more determined, fiercer, etc.

I felt my face heat up, but one advantage to having dark fur, it's hard to see blushing.

Ethan glanced my direction then glared back at the guard. "And here they are, idiot."

Poor Richard…he took one look at me and practically dragged Ethan onto the facility, apologizing every second. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry, Miss Ultimate! Sorry, Mr.! I didn't know!" You get the picture.

Ethan only rolled his eyes, took me by the arm, and steered me inside the building.

I followed a bit shocked…until it passed. I shoved him off me, "What are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you to forget about me? Charity is dead! Now get out of here before someone sees you!" I turned away from him

Ethan grabbed my arm and yanked me back around. _Hard._ "I'm not here for you. In fact, this has practically nothing to do with you. I'm here for a job. _A personal job."_

I wasn't sure what was more surprising. The fact that he wasn't here for me, or the fact that he said, _job_ …and something told me it didn't have to do with waiting tables.

The brown hedgehog released me and began to walk away. That was when I finally noticed what was on the back of his jacket. _"A black tiger insignia…Oh chaos, he's a Mercenary again."_

Rather quickly, I caught up with him and…pulled of his jacket. "Who are you and what have you done with Ethan?" I pointed at the design in question.

The boy frowned and took the jacket back. "I'm still me…you just haven't seen this side." He turned on his heel and marched towards the center of the building.

"Where do you think you're going? You're not stealing from GUN, no matter whom or what you are?" I teleported in front of him and spread my arms out as if blocking his way.

Ethan stopped a foot away from me then leaned towards me. He looked me straight in the eyes, "I need to see Shadow. I'm not going to steal anything, quite the opposite in fact. I'm here to help with Arianna's assassin."

I stepped back as if I'd been slapped. "What?"

"You heard me," he pushed past me, as if I was invisible. "Now where is he?"

At first I didn't answer, then a bit shakily. "Follow me, but be on your best behavior." I started to turn to lead, then paused, "And don't say anything about the whole 'Charity' incident, okay? I'd hate to have to do something I _might_ regret."

Before I could turn away, I felt Ethan grab my arm. His grip tightened ever so slightly, "And you don't say anything about Ethan Lavson…because I'd hate to do something I _would_ regret."

I forced myself to look into his eyes. They were steady and deadly serious. I felt my blood go cold as I realized the boy I was looking at was a complete stranger…a stranger who would kill without hesitation. A bit too quickly, I lead Mercenary Lavar to the debriefing room.

Shadow hate's interruptions…but I think he hated the fact that I brought a complete stranger into the middle of a GUN facility.

"What in the name of Chaos were you thinking?!"

"I'm right here you know…" Ethan crossed his arms. "And she knows me…sort of."

Shadow glared at me with the 'explain' look.

"I ran into Ethan for about a day on my year-long mission." This was true…Nicole knew Ethan for a day, Charity knew him a lot longer.

Annie and Topaz started whispering in the back. Miley just looked back and forth between us. Jr and Arnold…well they ignored me and glared at Ethan as if saying, _"Do you want to mess with me?"_

"And by Chaos, why did you bring him in here?!"

"Maybe because I have information on your would be killer." Ethan nodded towards the small clip that was repeating over and over again.

That got everyone's attention.

Reluctantly, Shadow agreed to hear the mercenary out. …It was really weird to have Shadow sitting next to me during a briefing.

Ethan pulled out a flash drive. "I'm breaking about a hundred mercenary codes by doing this…but they'll get over it. No one likes him that much, anyway." He plugged the drive in and pulled up a file.

"Meet Scourge. AKA- Anti-Sonic. AKA- Sonic the Hedgehog."

I gasped in shock as a green version of Sonic popped up on the holographic projection. The strange Sonic itself was odd, but the leather jacket and three slash scars across his chest didn't help the picture.

Jr. looked like he was going to be sick. "My Dad?"

"Not exactly. Ever heard of other dimensions? Well, he's from a parallel dimension of…you know what? Let's keep this simple. He's the evil version of Sonic, and a thug for hire. Unfortunately, this means someone hired him to take a shot at Arianna." Ethan shrugged, "I don't really care about that part, nor would I be able to help out with that. I just hunt down the people who do the dirty work…"

Shadow frowned, but nodded slowly. "So explain why you know it's him, if you would…"

"Simple. You don't see him leave." Ethan pulled up the video and played it for the hundredth time.

I frowned, "That could just be a teleporter or some sort."

"No, because if you slow it down all the way…" He played with the computer then replayed the clip. "You'll see a green streak just barely leaving. The other reason is Scourge likes to get payed, but get caught? Not so much. If any other hired assassin was given this job, they would have set multiple death traps such as poisonous gas on the stage, poison in food, several snipers, and the assassin would have been near to finish the job with a knife or hand gun. The fact that the hired just took a shot with a sniper shows he had faith that he would succeed in one shot. Scourge invented self-pride in skills…it's him."

I glanced at Shadow and saw he was seriously considering…then again, we didn't have much to go on.

"And where could we find this, 'Scourge,' character?"

Ethan shrugged, "I've spent the last three weeks at a mercenary hideout and he hasn't showed his face. He's probably getting new orders from his 'boss' and trying to raise the pay."

Annie smiled. "Taking out a Sonic? This will be easy. I can do that in my sleep."

Across the room, Jr frowned in his sister's direction.

"It's not that easy," Ethan explained, "Scourge isn't exactly Sonic. For one, he plays dirty. Another thing, he's trained in a vast amount of weapons, has Sonic speed, and can teleport through time and dimension using Warp Rings…that last one is rather annoying." He frowned slightly, "And don't forget his girlfriend, Fiona."

Topaz rolled her eyes, "That guy actually has a girlfriend?"

"Yep, and she's annoyingly loyal to him. Fiona Fox is more dangerous than Scourge when it comes to weaponry. Her hand-to-hand combat is really good too." He went back to the holographic image of Scourge and clicked on something else.

An orange fox wearing leather jacket and pants showed up. I could see two guns and a combat knife, but something told me she had a lot more weapons on her person. I decided I didn't like her.

Ethan flipped back to Scourge, "Shall I go on?" He directed the question at Shadow.

I glanced at my Mentor, who had his expressionless face on. "How about we talk in my office… I'd like to see what a mercenary has to offer." He stood up and motioned for Ethan to follow him.

Ethan looked a bit surprised, but nodded and followed.

After the two of them left, Annie smirked at me. "Is that your boyfriend?"

I didn't answer…because to be honest, I wasn't sure.

Ethan's POV:

Convincing Shadow the Hedgehog that I knew about his daughter's assassin was a lot easier than convincing the Mercenary Council to let me back in…which was the weirdest thing ever.

I had arrived at the old Juice Bar two days after I'd left the old mining town (I drove at top speed the whole 48 hours). Outside the door, I hesitated then entered.

At first, no one noticed me. The old place looked exactly how it did 6 years ago. Same smell; same furniture; same everything. Even old man Johnny was still running the joint.

I walked up to the bar with my head down.

Johnny was wiping down glasses, as usual. "What can I get you, sir?" He didn't look up from his rag.

I sat down and looked around a bit hesitantly. I shook my head, _"Mercenary's pick on the weak, remember idiot?"_ "I'll have some cranberry juice, Johnny."

The old man turned around, "Cranberry, uh? Not a popular choice in here, but still a good choice. Several years ago a kid used to order it all the time," He chuckled. "Loved that kid…wonder what's happened to him."

I smiled slightly, "Eh, almost got killed…twice. Now probably a third time."

Johnny froze in front of the dispenser and slowly turned around. His mouth dropped open, "Ethan?"

Slowly, I nodded.

His face broke into a grin. Rather sloppily, he filled the glass and brought it back to me. "What are you doing here kid, last I heard, you went Tommy."

I winced at the word. "Keep it down, Johnny. I'm trying to not be noticed. When's the next council meeting?"

"Well, it's in about an hour. In fact, they're going to officially throw you out of the order." His face grew serious, "Now looky here kido. You aren't coming back here again, they'll kill ya!"

I looked down at the glass, "I know, but I only got one shot. I'm going to try and do it…" I ran my fingers around the top of the drink, "Will you help?"

"Oh, shoot. You know I can't do that," Johnny was polishing his glasses again, "You're a great kid, but I can't go against the code. I'm sorry."

"It's not against the code. In fact, you'll be respected for it."

"What do you have in mind?"

"You're going to capture me and take me before the council."

Johnny dropped the glass and it shattered. "WHAT?"

"Shh! I know it sounds crazy, but this is how it has to be." I smiled at him, "You won't actually capture me I'll just be 'tied' up in the back room. You bring me out and I can plead my case before the council. You can say you drugged my drink, etc." I downed the cranberry juice. "It's the only way; I can't do it without you. Please, Johnny."

One hour later, I found myself in the back room tied up with the worst knots known to man. I could hear the commotion in the front room with the drinking and gambling. Yep, this place never changed.

The meeting started an hour late, as usual. The one council member present pounded order and the hub-bub died down to a whisper.

"Alright! Let's get started. First of all, your taxes are due in three weeks. You know what to pay and not get in trouble so no need to go over that."

A mercenary tax…that's probably the weirdest tax known to man because there's no written amount you pay. You're either pay a lot of money (if you're feeling generous) or you pay as little as possible. The money goes to freeing a fellow mercenary from a jail, a gang, or whatever else or it goes to new weaponry. (It's usually the last one, so some people are a little more generous then needed.)

The meeting continued for quite some time until finally,

"Lastly, we have the matter of Ethan Lavar."

The room practically exploded with yelling and shouting. It literally took five minutes for everyone to calm down.

"Alright, now that that's over with, we can continue. Now may the attorney's step forward and present their cases."

Why does the Turner Trial's feel like an actual trial? I never asked.

"Um…Hi. I'm Buddy Swiftfoot and I'm the defendant."

"I'm Carol Samuel and I will be bringing this Turner to justice."

 _Great…Buddy's dead._

The 'trial' began and yeah, Buddy pretty much died within the first ten minutes.

After a half an hour the thing basically escalated to dangerous levels. Finally they had the vote.

"All in favor of stripping Ethan Lavar's mercenary status, say I."

" **I!"**

"All apposed?"

Silence filled the air then,

"I!"

I could just imagine everyone turning towards Johnny.

"And I can prove it!" I heard footsteps and the door opened.

Johnny came over and knelt down, "You sure about this? The crowd would be willing to kill you with the drop of a hat."

"Yes…" _'I hope'_

"Alright…" He helped me up gently then led me to the door. When we got to the doorway, he shoved me out and I fell to the floor. _"Okay, that hurt…"_

The crowd erupted with screams of hate and vengeance. After order was restored, the council man ordered me to be brought forward. Unceremoniously, I was shoved to my knees.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" I looked up at the raccoon.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but I knew your father. He was a good mercenary, sorry about his arrest."

I shrugged, "That's what happens in this business, it's just how it rolls."

A few mercenaries nodded in agreement, their faces softened slightly.

"I'm Rock Raccoon, the 5th council seat."

I whistled, "Impressive, how long you've been sitting?"

"Four years. So what are you doing here? Are you and idiot, or just like adventure?"

I smiled slightly, "A little bit of both, sir. I'm just hoping that I can make my case fully heard." I glanced towards Buddy, "No offense, old friend."

The fox shrugged, "Eh, can't lie about what's true."

That got a few laughs and the tension in the room started to ease.

Rock chuckled, "So what brings you here, Lavar?"

I looked back up at the council member. "Well I wasn't counting on speaking in front of such a large group, but hey, nothing can be perfect when you're a Lavar."

That one got more laughs as many people knew that the Lavar's seemed to be cursed even the simple missions seemed to have some misheard complication.

"But despite that fact, I was wondering if there's a way to go un-Tommy…that didn't involve being killed."

That statement made the room go silent.

Rock frowned, "Well there's nothing in the code about that so I don't see how it could happen…"

"But there's nothing in the code that doesn't say it can't happen. After all, no one has ever tried."

It was true. Every Tommy usually ran for their lives. None of them ever tried to come back.

Buddy stepped forward, "5th council sir, I believe this Tommy should have a chance. For one, he didn't run from the Assassin's when they arrived at his house. He fought them, stood his ground, just like a good mercenary should."

I smiled, "It almost got me killed, but hey. Nothing's ever perfect."

More laughter. I looked around and noticed many of the mercenaries were nodding in agreement. Several I knew or my father knew, but there were quite a bit of strangers.

Buddy continued, "Another thing, he isn't a full Tommy. He never hunted mercenaries. If anything, we hunted him. He never gave away secret's to anyone."

Rock looked down at me, "Is this true?"

I started to nod, but stopped in the middle. _'Charity…chaos she's Nicole Ultimate!'_

"This isn't true?"

"Well…"

Men started growling again.

"I had a friend that I explained a few things to…but she's fine."

I heard a few guns slide from holsters.

"No really, she's an honorary mercenary." _'Sort of…'_

Rock rubbed his chin, "Can anyone support your claim?"

"I can," Buddy stepped forward. "Her name's Charity Amni, I'm the one who made her an HM."

"And why, pray tell, did you do that?" The council asked.

The fox smiled, "If you'd seen her, you would have too. She's smart and knows how to work a gun. She literally took down 10 mercenaries and sent us running. I was one of them."

Everyone was impressed by that fact…although I think Buddy was exaggerating it a bit.

Rock smiled at me with a glint in his eyes, "A _friend_ , uh?"

I frowned, "We broke up about a month ago. I don't want to talk about it."

Buddy looked a little surprised, but shook his head clear. "He's fine."

"Well…it's true that it's never been done before which means…new policy's."

Everyone let a small groan leave their lips. One thing all mercenaries hated…was new rules, or policies.

"Alright so if Tommy hasn't hunted down any mercenaries, or given away secrets of the council can be reinstated as a full mercenary and rank must… Suggestions?"

The room started to shout out.

"Re-take the mercenary test!"

"Not crack under torture for five days!"

"Do three jobs on their own!"

"Re-take the ranking test!"

"Die!"

As you can tell, some people still didn't like me…which wasn't surprising.

After a few more minutes and Rock calling his fellow council members, they decided.

"Alright, here's the proposal that is being voted about all over the world at all the council meetings.

 _If a mercenary who has been marked as a Tommy Turner hasn't hunted down any mercenaries, or given away secrets of the council can be reinstated as a full mercenary and rank if they do the following:_

 _1\. Retake the ranking test._

 _2\. Do three jobs. Two may be simple like body guarding or transporting. The last one must be a more difficult job and involve a person the public knows. This could be as hard as guarding the president, or helping a council member with some issues among the mercenaries._

 _3\. Be re-sworn into the council, meaning they must pass the Mercenary test again._

"All in favor?" Rock raised his right hand.

More than half the room did likewise.

"All opposed," Hands shot up, but not as many.

Rock called in the voting and now we just had to wait until the rest of the mercenary world came in.

Five tense minutes went by until, "Alright it was close but the issue…"

I tensed up ready to run for my life.

"…passed."

I released my breath and relaxed. Knowing mercenaries, they would respect the decision of the council. I would probably be roughly treated, but hey, Lavar's never have it perfect.

Buddy cut my ropes away and slapped me on the back. "Woah…that was terrifying."

"Yeah, and I'm never hiring you as my lawyer ever again."

He chuckled, "I guess I deserved that…"

After all the congratulations (and a few, non-congratulations), I was pulled into test's and job applications.

Without too many details, I took the mercenary test first. It lasted a whole week, as it was designed to test if you knew the code. I passed that test without much panic.

Then came the ranking test. Too much of the surprise of the judges (and myself) I turned out to be equal to the rank of a tiger, almost Phoenix rank. Buddy fell out of his chair when he saw the insignia on my jacket.

The two jobs were just transport jobs. I drove a van for two companies (both owned by mercenaries) without any trouble…minus a flat tire.

The last job was the trickiest to get a hold of. Part of the issue was a lot of the council was against having an ex-Tommy in their office…and it wasn't like I knew the president.

That's when I got the idea to go to GUN. After pulling a few strings, I managed to find out where Nikki was and get her number (seriously, how did a _mercenary_ find out Nicole's phone number?). That's when I drove over to GUN and got in that argument with the guard.

After texting Nicole, I just sat there. I slightly heard a door click open, but the guard lost it right there.

"Look kid, scram!"

"I told you I'm waiting here for someone so lay off, Bucky!"

I heard a slight gasp, and glanced over. Nicole was standing right there, the look on her face a bit confused, but other than that she looked normal.

Black pants with a red t-shirt actually suited her in this form. On Charity…not so much.

" _Ethan, she's not Charity. And you're not the same…act normal."_

After leaving a befuddled guard behind, Nicole pushed me away. "What are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you to forget about me? Charity is dead! Now get out of here before someone sees you!"

I was actually a bit hurt that she didn't want to be seen with her, but I pushed it aside. I grabbed her arm and yanked her back around. "I'm not here for you. In fact, this has practically nothing to do with you. I'm here for a job. _A personal job."_

She stared at me with those red eyes, the shock in her eyes evident. I released her and started walking down the hall, my thoughts turning. _"Oh chaos…What am I getting into?"_

Suddenly I felt my jacket get pulled off a little roughly. I turned around confused.

The hedgehog pointed at the Tiger insignia "Who are you and what have you done with Ethan?"

I frowned and took the jacket back. _"Okay…there's a sentence that I didn't expect…"_ "I'm still me…you just haven't seen this side." I pulled the jacket on and began to walk again.

"Where do you think you're going? You're not stealing from GUN, no matter whom or what you are?" Nicole teleported in front of me and spread her arms out. It was actually kind of cute…wait what?

I stopped a foot away from her then leaned towards her. I looked her straight in the eyes, "I need to see Shadow. I'm not going to steal anything, quite the opposite in fact. I'm here to help with Arianna's assassin."

She stepped back in shock. "What?"

"You heard me," I pushed past her, a bit roughly "Now where is he?"

Nicole didn't say anything for a moment. "Follow me, but be on your best behavior." She paused, "And don't say anything about the whole 'Charity' incident, okay? I'd hate to have to do something I _might_ regret."

My temper flared, not sure why, but I felt annoyed that she thought everything was about her. I grabbed her arm again and swung her around so she was facing me, almost touching. My grip tightened. "And you don't say anything about Ethan Lavson…because I'd hate to do something I _would_ regret."

I saw her eyes flicker in fear slightly then it faded. She pulled free and almost rushed down the hall. As we walked down the hall, I looked at Nicole. She looked…really bad. Now I know that makes no sense, but I could almost feel her discomfort and confusion just pouring off of her. Out of old habit, I went to place my hand on her shoulder in comfort then shook myself out of the trance. _"Nope…not going there."_

The meeting with Shadow was a bit…odd. He actually remembered me and wanted to hear how I knew Nicole. I told him that I'd let her tell him that story. He didn't seem too happy about that, but didn't press.

We talked about my father then a pay for the job. The conversation ended with us agreeing on a price that I thought was very generous and a handshake. Shadow gestured for me to leave and I decided it would probably do best if I did quickly.

When I stepped out of the office, Nicole was standing outside, arms crossed. Her short bangs had fallen in front of her face and she looked a little mad. I felt my heart pace go up ever so slightly, and I don't think it was out of fear.

"Walk with me… _now_."

I decided not to argue.

Nicole's POV:

I was a little angry…which made no sense. I didn't want Ethan to like me, so why was I so mad that he was pretty much ignoring me?

The first ten minutes of the walk were deadly silent.

Finally Ethan broke the silence, "So what did you want to talk about?"

I didn't answer at first. "About you. You're…different."

"I feel different. Is different okay?"

"Um…no." We reached the garden at this point.

Ethan sat down on a bench, "Why is there a garden in GUN?"

"It's for my sister, back on subject." I sat down across from him.

Ethan fiddled with his holster for a moment, gathering thoughts. "You knew me when I was trying to forget my past. I was hiding the part of me that had always been a part of me. I wasn't truly…me, I guess."

" _This_ …is you?" I shook my head in confusion.

Ethan smirked, "Well, is _this_ you?"

I shook my head slowly, "I'm not sure at this point…"

"Well, figure it out Chikky."

My head snapped up, "What…did…you…call…me?"

"It's a combination of Charity and Nikki…well sort of. I take it you don't like it."

"No…I don't." I growled at him.

Ethan just smiled, "Noted and probably ignored."

Yep…different Ethan me no likey.

I clenched my fist. "Ever wondered what a chaos spear feels like?"

"Um…no. And I think I'm good." He slid a little further away from me.

"That's what I thought."

Ethan smiled at me ever so slightly, "So what have you been up too? You know I rejoined the mercenary's, but what have you been doing?"

"Nothing really…just waiting for a lead on Ari's assassin…which I guess I was waiting for you to show up. I think I hate today…" I grumbled in frustration.

"Well, now I'm hurt and flattered at the same time." He made a little pouty face.

I just scowled in return.

"Well aren't you little Miss Sunshine."

"Back at you."

Silence followed.

I stood up and stretched, "Well, that's all for now. I need to go see Ari."

Ethan stood up, "Of course. See you around." He reached out his hand for me to shake.

I stepped forward to grasp his hand…unfortunately, my foot caught on something. I tripped and fell…right into Ethan's arms.

He pulled me up gently. "You really need to watch where you step."

I rolled my eyes, "Well I suppose I should thank…" My words died in my throat as I stood up straight.

Ethan's eyes locked onto mine and I realized he was still holding my hand.

If anyone asked me what happened, I'm not sure I could explain what happened

One second we were just standing there next thing I knew Ethan had wrapped his arms around me, my arms were around his neck, and we were locked in a kiss.

Ethan Lavson had gentle, sweet kisses…

Ethan Lavar kisses were fiercer…which just was confusing in itself.

Ethan released and stared at me, twirling my short quills in his hand.

I sighed and laid my head against him with my eyes closed.

Gently, he kissed the top of my head, "The agent has a heart…"

"As does the mercenary," I mumbled.

A few moments' passed and my thought cleared enough for the realization of what just happened to sink in. My eyes shot open and I shoved Ethan away. I turned away from him my hand to my mouth in horror.

" _Oh chaos. No, no, no, no, no."_

I wanted to scream in misery and pain. Part of me wanted to faint into Ethan's arms, the other part wanted to slap him and scream in his face. _"This can't be happening all over again…it just can't!"_

"Ethan…I-" I couldn't trust my voice. It was too hard to keep the emotion out of it.

I heard Ethan move a little bit. "I know… _you can't_." His voice was hard and unforgiving. "Goodbye Nicole."

I heard his footsteps fade then crashed down on my knees and just started crying. My shoulders were shaking and the sobs came out of control, as if the pain was too much. I almost screamed.

Not sure how I sat there, but it must have been a long time because when I finally looked up, the sun was going down.

I ran to my room and locked the door behind me.

 _Song: Heart Attack_

 _Artist: Demi Lovado_

 _Puttin' my defenses up  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack_

 _Never put my love out on the line  
Never said yes to the right guy  
Never had trouble getting what I want  
But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough  
When I don't care, I can play 'em like a Ken doll  
Won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball_

 _But you make me wanna act like a girl  
Paint my nails and wear high heels, yes you  
Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand_

 _You make me glow,  
But I cover up, won't let it show,  
So I'm puttin' my defenses up  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack _

_Never break a sweat for the other guys  
When you come around, I get paralyzed  
And every time I try to be myself  
It comes out wrong like a cry for help  
It's just not fair  
Pain's more trouble than love is worth  
I gasp for air  
It feels so good, but you know it hurts_

 _But you make me wanna act like a girl  
Paint my nails and wear perfume, for you,  
Make me so nervous, that I just can't hold your hand_

 _You make me glow,  
But I cover up, won't let it show,  
So I'm puttin' my defenses up  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack _

_The feelings got lost in my lungs  
They're burning, I'd rather be numb  
And there's no one else to blame  
So scared I take off and I run  
I'm flying too close to the sun  
And I burst into flames_

 _You make me glow,  
But I cover up, won't let it show,  
So I'm puttin' my defenses up  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack (Heart attack)  
I think I'd have a heart attack  
I think I'd have a heart attack_

 _I think I'd have a heart attack_

 **Cosmo: Oh…poor Nikki, she's so sad…**

 **Me: Well, I wasn't going to make it easy. That's sooo boring.**

 **DW: True, but that was just mean. I'm mean, but not that mean.**

 **Cosmo: She's got a point there.**

 **Me: What about what you do to our other favorite girl.**

 **DW: Oh…yeah.**

 **Me: Anyway, Review please. If anyone is still following this story… Sorry the update took forever, but I've been busy and I wasn't in the mood for fanfiction. That plus writer's block equal's: no story writing. Hence why the chapter is ridiculously long…**

 **Nicole: *crosses arms and glares at me* You might want to say bye because I want some words with you…**

 **Me: *gulps* Goodbye! Maybe forever if Nikki kills me. Just Kidding. Till next time y'all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah! Two reviews! That makes me happy enough to post this! Although…this isn't the happiest chapter. In fact, I think I'm going to have nightmares…but that's because I know what's coming.**

 **DW: *folds her arms* And I'm the one who spoil's everything?**

 **Me: Um…let's just start the chapter…**

Ethan's POV:

Okay, so maybe I was a little mad. Alright I was really mad, but do you blame me? What kind of girl lift's your heart, breaks your heart, heals you heart ever so slightly, and then shatters it again? I'm just saying…it's starting to get a little annoying.

So after I stormed out of the garden I went to the shooting range, because I seriously needed the practice and the distraction. Stayed there 'til 10 at night then went back to the juice bar.

"I just don't get it!" I confided in Johnny, "She's so…"

"Interesting?"

"No…" I sipped on my cranberry juice.

"Unique?"

"Well yes, but that's not the word I was looking for."

"Pretty?"

"Johnny…" I sighed in frustration.

He smiled and placed a cup of ice cream in front of me. "I know, I know. You're looking for appealing, yet appalling. She's so amazing and you think she's perfect at some points, but at other points…"

"I just can't stand her and want to punch her in the face."

"Pretty much. You my young friend have a serious love/hate relationship." Johnny polished the glass in his hand…again.

"So what am I going to do?"

"Well-" the bar tender cut off as the door opened.

The night had been really slow business, so I ignored the door.

"Well if it isn't One-Shot boy. How are you today?"

I heard footsteps and someone sat down next to me, "Hey Mr. Johnny, I'm fine."

"Your usual?"

"You bet!"

I looked over at the new comer.

I found a gray hedgehog who looked about my age. The only thing that was eye catching was his gold belt, but other than that, I couldn't see anything special about him.

Johnny came back with a large cup of milk and placed it in front of the stranger. "Anything else I can get you?"

"I'd like an ice cream sundae if you don't mind."

"Coming up!"

"Hey, Johnny," I held up my empty glass, "Could I get some more juice?"

The old man smiled, "Sure thing sonny." He walked away to get the orders.

I turned towards the hedgehog. "Never seen you before…name's Ethan. Ethan Lavar."

"Manic Kingsley. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and I shook it.

" _Nice to meet you? Who the heck was this guy?"_ Never in my life had a mercenary said that to me. Another off thing was he had no insignia. Nothing at all; not even a pin.

Johnny returned with the ice cream and cranberry juice. "There you are boys. Enjoy." He paused and leaned across the counter, "Ethan, have you heard about this guy?"

I looked over at the hog, "Not that comes to mind…"

"Oh man, it's a great story. Okay, so this one night-"

Manic interrupted him, "It's not that big of a deal. I'm sure he doesn't want to hear it."

The bar tender shrugged then walked away.

"Sorry about that, people can't stop talking about me?" He drank down some milk.

I smiled in sympathy. "Join the club…I got quite the story myself."

A small bark echoed from the floor. I looked down and found a large dog sitting at Manic's feet.

The hedgehog only smiled, "Oh don't mind Mint his bite is worst then his bark."

"I assume you meant his bark is worst then his bite?"

"No…I meant his bite is worse than his bark." Manic dropped a small slice of banana and the dog licked it up.

"Hey Lavar! You're in my seat…"

I groaned and turned around, "For the last time Sammy, this is anyone's seat, not yours."

The weasel only smiled and grabbed me by the wrist. "I said; _get out of my seat_ …"

Surprisingly it was Manic who spoke up, "Hey, Sammy was it? Leave my friend alone."

"So we're friends now?"

"Shut it, Lavar."

I started to like this strange kid.

Sammy motioned three of his friend's over. "And what, are you going to do about it?"

Manic only shrugged. "Something like this…" He grabbed Samuel's wrist and flipped him over the bar just as I launched myself at two of his friends.

Gray boy jumped at the other goon and tackled him to the ground.

Five minutes later (and a few smashed tables), the four of them lay moaning on the floor.

I grinned and dropped some money on the counter. "Here you go Johnny. To cover the damage…"

The man scooped up the money then grinned at me. "Are you kidding? That was awesome!" He smiled at me, "Your Dad would have been proud…" He shuffled away.

The boy smiled at me, "I want to meet your Dad. My Dad would kill me for doing that. But it sure felt good…" He glanced at his watch, "Ah, I got to go. Nice meeting you, Ethan."

"Want to meet here again? Same time tomorrow?" Okay, so I didn't think he was special, but I didn't think Charity was going to be a lot of trouble and I was wrong there. I actually liked strange Manic…and hoped we would become better friends.

Manic nodded, "See you then," then left the bar.

I finished my drink then went upstairs. I needed sleep after today…

Narrator's POV:

Manic ran across the roof tops. Why? _Why not?_ Mint followed close behind, barking in his cheerful way.

The gray hedgehog paused on the edge of the building, staring across the skyline. Then he jumped down, hitting the ground lightly.

Mint appeared next to him. "Hey boy…" Manic scratched the 'dog' behind the ears.

Suddenly, the he started growling. The gray hedgehog kneeled down next to Mint, "What is it boy? You smell something."

Soft laughter filled the air, making Manic's quill's stand up on end. "What…was…that…?"

Mint started barking ferociously, growling and gnashing his teeth. Silently, Manic drew his gun and cocked it, his heart pounding. "Mint?"

The dog crouched down, as if going to pounce.

The laughter repeated, only closer.

Manic felt his blood go cold as Mint started turning in circles, _"Oh Chaos he's lost the scent."_

The dog sniffed at the ground whirled around and narrowed his eyes at Manic…

" _Mint_? It's behind me…isn't it?"

A few minutes later Mint laid in the alley whimpering and a large gash on his leg. He licked at the black blood trying to stop the stanch. Near him laid his owner's gun…one shell missing from the barrel.

Across the street, a different hedgehog cocked his gun. "Why don't we just kill the dog? It's not going to do anything."

"Patience Scourge…the dog is important to me right now. Let him be."

Fiona leaned on her boyfriend, "Yes Scourge let's leave the pathetic creature. It's not even worth a shell."

Slowly, the hedgehog nodded. "Fine. Now what do we do?"

"We wait for 2nd Generation to find us…it shouldn't take too long."

Fiona and Scourge nodded slowly, "You're the boss… But why didn't we kill Arianna? It would've gotten rid of a member and one less person to fight?"

The dark figure slapped their companion. "Because I wanted her alive, idiot! She is the key to the whole plan. Without _sweet_ Ari, none of this would happen. Now let's get moving, before someone notices the dog."

The figures vanished into the dark without another sound.

Across town, Arianna woke up from another nightmare. She wrapped her blanket around her, trying to feel warm again, but to no avail. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was after her…something that she was positive she wouldn't like.

 **DW: *has me pinned to the ground* WHAT DID YOU DO TO MANIC? THIS WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL STORY PLAN!**

 **Cosmo: *trying to pull DW off of me* Calm down DW! I'm sure he's fine!**

 **Nikki: *runs into room just as Cosmo pulls DW off. Runs over to me and punches me in the stomach* What did you do to Manny Boy!**

 **Me: *groans* I thought you weren't using that nickname. And I thought you hated him?**

 **Nikki: That doesn't mean I want him to die! Star is going to kill me!**

 **Me: DID ANYONE HEAR ME MENTION A DEAD BODY?! NO! NOW CALM DOWN!**

 ***deep breath***

 **Sorry about that…I changed something because I think it brings the tension up even higher. If you really want to get scared; Go find a soundtrack from a really tense movie scene and re-read the Narrator's POV. That will get you freaked out…or maybe not. I know what's going on, not you so…you know what, forget it. Anyway, Review! Did you get scared? I know I'm scared of this angry mob so I'm off until they calm down… Hope to see y'all soon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: *walks into room rubbing eyes* Ugh…**

 **DW: What happened to you?**

 **Me My brain is mush. I just read practically every comic that Scourge shows up in (for research purposes. I like capturing the personalities of characters) and I'm sick of his attitude. I feel like I'm going to have Nicole punch him until he's not breathing…**

 **DW: Okay…little violent.**

 **Me: Sorry, but you try reading all of that and not be mad of him.**

 **DW:…True.**

 **Me: Okay, on a happier note, the last time we spoke, Manic had just gone 'poof' and Mint had been injured, literally an hour after Manic had just met Ethan for the first time. Actually, that's not really a happy thought.**

 **DW: And I tried to kill you…**

 **Me: Right…okay let's get going.**

 **DW: You better fix this.**

 **Me: I will, just not this chapter.**

 **DW: I really don't like you sometimes…**

 **Me: Miss you too, now let's get going.**

Nicole's POV:

I woke up on the floor…which was a little strange, but hey, I still had my memory. I stood up with a groan, "Ugh…note to self: sleep on bed tonight." I groaned again as I tried to pop my back, back into place.

Shadow banged on my door, "Come on, we're looking for Scourge today so time to get up!"

I smiled slightly, _"Some things never change…"_

Five minutes later we were in hanger with 2nd Generation and…Ethan.

If he had a bad night of sleep last night, he didn't show it. I vaguely wondered if he'd slept on the facility grounds, but shook it out of my head. "Don't matter, Don't care."

"What did you say?" Miley looked up from the gun she was playing with.

"Nothing…" I looked at the _Tornado 7_. "So this is your plane? Nice…"

The said plane was painted a lot like the _X Tornado_ , but instead of blue and yellow, it was black and yellow.

"Were you aiming for a bumblebee?" I smiled at the thought.

'Ace' frowned. "Um…no. I almost did black and red, but I decided that would be a little redundant."

"Well I just hope it fly's better than a bumblebee…"

"It's really fast…like almost as fast as me!" Jr smiled at the fox.

"Well it's pretty simple math. You just take the flux override and times the output needed to break the sound barrier plus the amount of force that a single engine can put off…"

I droned the conversation out as Shadow motioned for me over. "Have you seen Manic recently?"

I shook my head, "Ari said he dropped in last night, but he always' disappears. I'm sure he'll show up eventually."

"Alright, I just got a message from Star. She was worried sick and apparently something is blocking her from traveling between dimensions. We're lucky we have a signal. Get back to your team, we have a mission to start."

Shadow split us into four teams, Annie and Jr, Topaz and Arnold, Miley and me, and lastly Shadow would take Ethan.

When we were dismissed, Miley fired up the _Tornado 7_ and we blasted off.

Ace was right…the plane was really fast.

"So we're the eyes in the sky while everyone else searches the streets…great." Ace turned on the radio. "This is going to be a long day…which means you can finally spill the beans on what you've been up to this past year."

I groaned, "I thought you'd gotten over this?"

"Nope. Trust me, when you're dating Jr, you get really patient. Now spill. Or I will launch you out of this plan…and I can do that."

I moaned and leaned back, but decided not to argue. "You know Maria?"

"Um…are you talking about _the_ Maria or some other Maria?"

"Some other Maria," I respond sarcastically.

"Really?"

"No Ace. What other Maria would I be talking about?"

"Sorry, just asking. So yes, I know Maria."

"Well I met her?"

The plane jerked to the left in surprise. "What?!"

I crossed my arms and glared out the window, "Why do you think I don't want to talk about it?"

Silence filled the air for the next few minutes.

"So…what happened?"

"I watched her die. Right in front of me…and I couldn't stop it."

"I'm sorry…but that's how history played out. You can't change the past, but you can influence the future."

"Did you get that from Shadow?"

"…Maybe."

"Great…now my partner is turning into my mentor."

We let out a small laugh and then went back to silence.

More minute's passed until Miley popped the next question, "So _that_ took a whole year?"

"Um…no. Just about 1 and a half months."

The plane jerked to the right. "Then where were you the rest the time? And where did Ethan come in."

I rubbed the back of my head, "I knew Ethan for not even a day…Nicole knew him for less than a day."

"Um…why did you just speak about yourself in the third person? Please tell me some Missy like sprit isn't in you."

"I got amnesia…"

The cab filled with silence, and then Miley's shoulders started to shake. "You…got…amnesia?"

"Yes…"

She started laughing hysterically. Her hands let go of the steering and she flipped the plane to auto-pilot.

"Ace!"

"I'm sorry…it's just…so, funny! Ha!"

I rolled my eyes and tried not to funny, it's not funny…"

"Yes it is…" Miley wiped her eyes, "And why didn't you just call us?"

"One; I lost my phone. Two; I didn't exactly look like…me."

"Um…what?"

"I recently discovered my chaotic abilities can change what I look like…it's actually pretty cool…except that I was light purple when I hit my head. Not the best situation."

"Okay…so I'm guessing that Ethan found you."

"Yep…spent the next 9 and a half months with him."

"Okay…I'm guessing there's more here than meets the eye." Miley turned the plane around for another loop. "Anything else?"

"Charity…may have dated him for the last few months."

"Who?"

"That would have been me as the purple hedgehog."

"Okay. Now I get it. Let me guess…you broke up with him when you got your memory back; horrified that you actually fell in love with someone. Now that he's back, he's different then you remember and you can't seem to forget how you used to felt."

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so smart…"

Miley smiled. "Wish not granted. You want dumb, go talk to my cousin. She's an idiot…"

Slowly, we circled the city until Jr and Annie called in.

" _Um…guys? I think we found something."_

" _Jr, how does this not say, 'we found something?' Seriously?"_

" _Well I'm not the brightest lightbulb so I thought I'd point that out."_

Miley mumbled something under her breath, then pick up her radio. "Stop arguing and send your coordinates already."

Half an hour later, the whole crew was crouched down in an alley near an old warehouse.

"And you're sure this is the place?" Shadow directed the question at Annie.

She nodded. "I'm positive. Based off Lavar's description and holograms, I'm pretty sure Jr and I saw the green mercenary."

The hedgehog looked back at the warehouse. "I don't know…"

"Seems a possibility," Ethan leaned against a dumpster. "It's far enough away from any GUN facility that it would have lighter security, but in the city so they can have a nearby base of operations." He rubbed his hands together, "We'd need to come back tonight to get it confirmed though. If they are in there, then they're on alert and probably out of sight. Annie and Jr got a really lucky glance. Best bet right now, so I think we should go for it." The hedgehog glanced at everyone else, "With your order's, of course. Remember, I'm just the informative and mercenary. I don't make battle plans."

Shadow closed his eyes in thought, "If we came back tonight, some of us could sneak in undetected while everyone else was nearby…and we'd all be properly rested…" He opened his eyes and nodded at Ethan. "We'll launch at midnight, so all of you get home and rest. It's going to be a long night…"

Back at headquarters, I climbed out of the plane. "Hey Ace, want to do a training session together? Just for thirty minutes, it's been a while."

The fox shook her head, "Sorry Nikki, but I need to prepare the _Tornado 7_ and the _Tornado 5_. We'll need both planes tonight; which mean's I'll need the rest of the time to rest. Maybe tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded and left the hanger.

"How about a session with me?"

I turned around and found Topaz walking behind me.

"I know I'm no Miley, but I need something to do…besides, you look like you need the practice."

Five minutes later Topaz was trying to knock me off the balance beam. Correction, she was knocking me off.

"Ugh. When did you get so good?"

The bat smiled, "Been training with Dad, you know. For the Guardian thing."

"Of right…almost forgot about that. How does your Dad feel about that?"

"Well at first he wasn't for it. My mother had to pin him down and give him a talking to before he would even consider it. But after we started training, Dad realized how quickly I learned and that I wasn't always daydreaming. True, Arnold will always be the heir and his kids will continue the Guardian tradition, but I'm in his position until he wakes up and realizes it."

I smiled and attempted to tackle her to the ground. She countered by flapping her wings then trying a spin-kick. I moved out of the way.

"How about we move to the air?" I summoned some chaos energy and lifted myself off the ground.

Topaz flew up next to me. "Still think that's so weird how you're stronger than Shadow in that stuff."

"Anyway, do you really think Arnold will want his job back?"

The bat shrugged as we began to spar. "Maybe, but until then, I'm happy to stay on the island and help Dad with that giant gem. It's a gem after all."

"Yeah, noticed that." I punched her pretty hard and she dropped onto the mat below.

"Ugh…that hurt." She dusted herself off. "So Ethan…what do you think of him?"

I turned away so the bat wouldn't see my face. "He's…interesting."

"You like him."

"I do not!"

"You totally do."

"Topaz!"

"What? What's not to like? He's smart, driven, cute, and has a slight bad boy side. Totally your type."

"And you would know my type, how?"

The bat smirked, "I know people. I'm a spy."

"He's not my type…" I grumbled. "Is this why you wanted to train with me? To figure out my feelings? Well news flash Topaz, I'm not impressed. Why don't you just go hang out with Annie?"

Topaz crossed her arms and groaned. "Hon, if I wanted you to share your feelings I would've been more stubble about it. As for Annie, she's too busy with Arnold. I swear, those two make me want to throw up sometimes."

"I thought you supported Annie and Arnold. You even offered to set up a date."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I miss my Annie and me time. She barely hangs out with me anymore. Even in training sessions, she's always sparring with my brother. I've become the third wheel."

The bat fluttered her wings, "I think they're cute together, really I do, but I just wish I wasn't left out of everything…"

"Why don't you just go find a guy for you?" I frowned slightly. "I'm sure there are tons of guy's who'd love to date you."

"Yeah, too many of them. And none of them really…hit me as good. Call it ironic, but I like the strong, serious, types. None of this, joking around or floating in his own little world. I want a guy who's kind, but stern; gentle, but firm. Mostly controlled temper, nothing like my father and he has to respect my freedom. And he has to be smart, not like Jr, whose dumber than a can of turnips." Topaz sighed then smiled at me. "I hope too much. I think I'll just stay single my whole life."

I frowned a bit confused, "You liked that one dude we fought a year ago."

"He was cute…that was it." The bat face-palmed herself, "Oh you're good. We started with your love-life and somehow transitioned to mine."

With a shrug, I turned towards the door, "What can I say, I don't like talking about my feelings. That doesn't mean I don't have them though."

"Keep telling yourself that. See you later Nikki," Topaz called as I left the training room.

As I walked down the hall I couldn't help but think about what Topaz had said about Ethan. "I really hate that bat sometimes…" I grumbled to the floor. _"Wonder what Ethan's doing right now…"_

I walked up to the medical bay, towards Ari's room. When I passed by Manic's old room I also couldn't help but wondered to that little gray hedgehog. "Eh, I'm sure he's stirring up trouble where ever he is."

Just before I reached Ari's door, Nova went off. "Who is it?"

" _You're ex."_

"Ugh…" I flipped open the phone, "Ethan, what do you want?"

I listened and felt my heart beat speed up, "Wait, repeat that…no way…hang on Ethan, where are you…I'll be there shortly, I'll explain later. Just don't do anything stupid until we get there!" I snapped the phone shut and ran off to find the team. _"Shawnee's going to kill me…"_

Narrator's POV:

If only Nicole knew how right she was.

Manic felt like he'd been hit by Shadow when the hedgehog was really angry (and he knew what that felt like). Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself facing the ground. "Ugh…"

He sat up and looked around. The room was about eight feet by five feet…a pretty small cell. Only one door lined the walls and there was no furniture in the room.

"Where…where am I?" The confused hog asked the room. Vaguely, he noticed that his gold belt was missing, but he didn't really care for that thing anyway. Rubbing the back of his head, her tried to recall what happened.

There had been an alley and a cold laugh then…Mint.

Manic could hear the dog's yelp of pain in his ears. "Mint? Mint!" He stood up and banged on the door (and immediately got a headache).

"Let me out of here! Where's my dog?! Let, me, OUT!"

"SHUT IT IN THERE." The intercom blared in the cell

Manic fell back on the ground in shock. "Who- who's there?"

"ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF." The door clicked open allowing someone to enter the room.

"My name is Scourge, and you, my dear friend, are going to be very helpful to me."

"Scourge…" Manic's eyes narrowed. "I've heard about you from my Aunt Shawnee. She's not going to like that you've kidnapped me…"

"I don't know a Shawnee. Now quit your yammering and be a good little hedgehog, okay?" The hedgehog gripped his leather jacket. "Nice meeting you Manic, hope you survive the oncoming storm."

Scourge left the gray hog pondering those words.

Fiona looked up from her paper's when he walked in, "Hey babe, how's our prisoner?"

"Been better…I don't like this job, Fi. Remind me why we took it…"

"To get revenge on a blue hedgehog and they paid really good." She looked back down at her clipboard, "But I have to agree. Taking out GUN is one thing, but the boss gives me chills every time I look at them."

Scourge walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "Don't worry Babe. As long as we do the job correctly, we'll be fine. Remember, this isn't our world. We won't have to live in what's coming."

"True. Let's just get the job done then get the heck out of here."

"Agreed."

The two of them went back to work, meanwhile, a certain hedgehog was trying to figure out what to do.

" _A; wait for rescue. Yeah right, who's going to find me in the middle of…where ever I am. B; try and break out myself. With what, my gun? C;…there is no C. Chaos, I wish my Mom was here…"_

Across town Ethan walked into the juice bar. _"Man, after spending the whole day with Shadow, I could use some juice…and a break."_

It was about eight pm, so Ethan figured he had two hours to kill…only one problem with his plan. As soon as he walked in, Johnny practically tackled Ethan to the ground.

"Have you seen One-shot boy?"

The hedgehog tilted his head slightly. "Who?"

"Manic! His dog showed up around lunch time, practically bleeding to death!"

Ethan felt his blood go cold, "Where is he?"

Johnny motioned towards the back room. "The dog will be fine, but I'm more concerned about that kid. He has a nose for trouble… I had Buddy checking the security camera's since Mint got here. He's only found that Manic was in the downtown area a little after he came here. Go check it out, please. I'd do it myself, but I've got a bar to run."

Ethan nodded. "Anyone who beats up some idiot's for me is my friend. We'll find him, Johnny. I promise." The hedgehog whirled around and ran out the door. As he ran down the street he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. After two ring's a very annoyed Nicole answered.

"Hey Nikki, I may be late to the stakeout. A friend of mine is missing. Can you cover for me."

" _Wait, repeat that?"_

"My friend, Manic, has vanished. He was last seen last night about 11 pm."

" _No way."_

"What's wrong?"

" _Hang on Ethan, where are you?"_

"Um…I'm heading for the corner of Brown and Main."

" _I'll be there shortly, I'll explain later. Just don't do anything stupid until we get there!"_

Ethan shut his phone. _"Okay…that was weird. But she's the boss."_

He ran off down the street at top speed, praying that Manic was alright.

 **DW: If you kill him, I will have Star tear Nikki to shreds.**

 **Me: Why, pray tell, would I kill him? I think Manic is awesome!**

 **DW: Where's his belt? With Scourge and Fiona?**

 **Me: …Um…I don't know… Where did that thing go?**

 **DW: Eh, it's not important anyway. Everyone review my friend's story! She needs the feedback to keep her writing spirit happy! Then she doesn't kill characters!**

 **Me: I do not!**

 **DW: Do too!**

 **Me: Do not!**

 ***fight continues***

 **Nicole: Okay…next time is figuring out where in chaos Manic has vanished off too. See you all soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Merry Late Christmas and other holidays! Missed me? Well here's an extra long chapter to make it up! It's my gift to y'all.**

 **DylanDamboise321: I missed your comment's so I'm glad you're back! Thanks for bearing with me.**

 **Meadow: Hi! I'm glad you like Ethan and Nicole…now will I get them together? That's the evil question… I hope you like Miley and Jr in this chapter. It's also adorable.**

Narrator's POV:

Manic was cold, unhappy, and a prisoner, which fell under his list of least favorite things. He was just barely falling asleep when the building shook. His eyes popped open, _"What in chaos was that?"_

"Tell me again how you know Manic?" Nicole was crouched down on the roof of a building across the street from the warehouse.

Ethan, who was crouched next to her, smirked. "I didn't tell you."

"Well then tell me!"

"It doesn't matter."

Nicole rolled her eyes. Sometimes, it was a pain to like this guy.

Little did she know, Ethan was thinking something along the same lines.

" _Can you two shut up? I can hear you."_ Shadow did not sound happy.

Ethan and Nicole shared a small smile.

" _Nicole, get in position. Topaz start sneaking in through the back. You know the plan. Now get moving!"_ Shadow turned off his com.

Near him, Annie and Jr were bickering about something.

" _Chaos, it's like working with Sonic and Amy all over again!"_ He looked over then teleported inside the warehouse.

Meanwhile Topaz crept through the top window. _"Seriously, why do so many warehouses have sky lights? It makes breaking in so much easier…"_

Nicole stood up and crossed her arms. "And thus begins the plan you so fully dragged us into."

"Well you don't need to be all cranky about it, _dear_." Ethan responded sarcastically. "Seriously, what's wrong with it?"

"Well, I don't like walking in without even hearing about the guy we're facing!"

Ethan glared at her, eyes in a blaze. "Get moving." He turned his back on Nikki and began fiddling with his gun quietly.

Nicole cursed him under her breath but turned and teleported into the facility. She landed behind some large boxes near the south window. If everything was going to plan, Topaz was right above her, ready to step in for back-up.

Across the way, also in the ceiling, Shadow observed. For reasons no one ever supported, the emo hedgehog liked to watch 2nd generation on their mission's first hand, but never got involved unless it meant saving someone's life. It got annoying rather quickly.

Softly, Nicole sighed. "I hate this plan…" She purposely kicked a nearby screw into a large metal container. You'd never think that small clink would echo so loud.

"Fi! Was that you?"

"No… Someone's in here. Keep a look out, babe."

"Well duh!"

The two inter-dimensional mercenaries began to scourer the area while Nicole quietly teleported up onto a stack of boxes then ducked down behind them. Very carefully, she peaked over to get a glance.

Scourge was standing two aisles away. Fiona was nowhere in sight.

Nicole's POV:

To be honest, from what I heard of the guy, he was a little…disappointing. Don't get me wrong, one wrong move and he may be able to take me out, but seriously? I thought he'd be taller or at least look a little more menacing. But instead he looked like Sonic when he was mad…and green.

I ducked back down and pondered the scene. We had the hedgehog in the middle of boxes, but I needed to make sure he was alone. As if she was reading my mind, Topaz called in and told me softly that Fiona had left the main corridor, probably checking on their prisoner.

Softly, I lowered myself down the boxes until I was right behind him. As fate would have it, apparently I wasn't that quiet.

The green hedgehog turned around and smirked up at me. "Well, well, well… What do we have here?" Scourge leaned against a large crate. "Come down from there. Let's have a little chat before you start shooting me."

"Yeah, I'm not coming down there, but if you want to talk then we can do it from here." I sat down on the edge, three crates above Scourge; my legs hanging just below the ledge.

Scourge chuckled. "Whatever you want Miss Shade."

I made a chaos spear, "Don't ever call me that, again. _Ever._ "

"Well you'll have to forgive me. I'm at a small drawback, as I'm not sure which clone you are. You're not Arianna right? She's more laid back. As you are," he gestured at my glowing hand, "a little tightly strung. So what do I owe the honor of a visit from the famous Nicole Ultman?"

I lowered the spear and crossed my arms. "Depends on what you call an honor. Where's Manic?"

"Manic…Manic…Manic…" He frowned slightly then his awful face cleared. "Oh! You mean the gray boy. He's around here somewhere, Fiona is probably checking on him at the moment. Well you see we nabbed him on accident. Mistook him for Shadow and…well let's just say he's a pain to keep."

He was lying, although I wasn't sure why. I knew they meant to take Manic, but why?

"Yeah, whatever. By the way, you're annoying." I smirked. "Seriously, I can't see how you could've taken over your own planet."

"So the mini-Shadow knows about me. A little mercenary told you?"

I blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, I know about Ethan Lavar. He's finally decided to step out of the shadows, the coward. Has he told you why he hates me?

I didn't answer. Okay, who was this guy? This is why I hate these types of missions.

Scourge must have taken my silence as agreement. "I also know about you, Nicole Maria Ultman. You're quite impressive…"

"Thank you. Now can we punch each other?" I will admit it. The fact that he knew my full name was sort of…creepy.

Scourge chuckled again. "I'm not quite done. You're a clone of Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform…well a partial clone anyway. Do you wish you had super speed sometimes? Of course the fact that you have so much chaos energy has to be nice… Flying, more attacks, changing your appearance, you get the idea. Shall I go on?"

"No…" I had lowered my arms at this point and my hands made fists.

"Too bad, I'm going on. Shadow picked your middle name, and honestly, you thought she'd be older. Not so young to…make the _Ultimate_ Sacrifice." He smiled at his clever wording.

My blood went cold as I realized who he was talking about, "How…how do you know about…?"

"Your little time traveling experience? Or about the fact that you and Ethan were closer than you let on? Or perhaps the fact that you lost your memory?" He smile widened. "As I said, Charity Amni, I know all about you. I also knew that your little bat friend was in the raptors and that your mentor was in the building."

I think that's when I lost my temper. I teleported down behind him then attempted to punch him in the face. Scourge was already waiting and caught my fist in his hand. He judo-flipped me on the ground then held me down.

He tusked at me in disappointment, "Now there's no need for that. We have a lot in common. So I'd like to offer you a job. Be honest with yourself, you've never loved your 'father' or your 'team.' Honestly, I don't see why you waste all of your power on _protecting_ others."

I struggled to free myself from his grip. My mind was having difficulty focusing on summoning chaos control.

"Now," Scourge smiled, "I have a squad who would benefit from your…experience. My employer wants me to get rid of you, but I see too much potential in you. So Miss Ultimate Lifeform, what do you say?" He sat up and lessened his grip on my arm.

 _Where were Topaz and Shadow?_ My mind was so confused.

Scourge lifted me to my feet and picked up my fallen gun then made a show of giving it back. "If you're wondering about your so called, _Team_ , their a bit occupied. My Suppression Squad is giving them a handful. As for your batty friend she's unconscious around her somewhere. Shadow is a little…tied up, at the moment with Fi." He smiled that evil grin again. "Anyway, what do you say about joining?"

I forced a laugh, "You think I'd betray my friends like that." I made a chaos spear and threw it at the annoying hedgehog.

He dodged then started laughing. "Yes, yes I would. Say what you will; you're not your mentor, you love humans, or what other lies you've been pumped with. You're nothing but trouble, and you know it." He speed around and flipped over me, pinning my right arm behind me.

 _Okay, why is he so hard to beat? What in Chaos?_

Softly, Scourged mumbled in my ear, "And to be honest, you're much more interesting then Fiona. She's always falling all over me, but you…well just keep that in mind."

My brain wanted to throw up from that comment, but my heart picked up ever so slightly…and I'm pretty sure it wasn't from the tension _. Ewww…_

I reached behind with my left hand and flipped him. "Yeah, in your dreams." I pulled my gun and held it to his head. "Now give up Manic," I growled.

Scourge grimaced, "First of all, ow. Second of all, why didn't you say so in the first place?" He gripped a gold ring in his hand, and then disappeared, appearing twenty feet in front of me. He rubbed the ring again, and an unconscious Manic appeared on the ground next to him. "He's all yours. But keep my offer in mind, _dear_."

You know when Ethan said dear earlier, it sounded kind and sweet. But when Scourge said dear, it sounded seductive and lucid.

I shivered slightly, then summoned five chaos spears and threw them in successive order.

Yeah…Scourge dodged all of them then zipped around, annoyingly. I kept summoning spears and throwing them, but he just moved out of the way. Finally he jumped up on a box and smirked down at me.

"Well darling, it's been fun, but Fiona is calling me. Apparently, your team is stronger than we anticipated. I'm looking forward to our next meeting." He winked then disappeared with a flash of light.

After he left I checked on Manic. He was breathing alright, but there was something about this situation that I didn't like… I shook my thoughts away then reached out telepathically to my annoying mentor.

" _Okay how much did you see of that conversation…Because that was just embarrassing at certain points."_

No answer.

" _Shadow? Hello? I know you can hear me idiot."_

Still nothing.

" _Maria Robotnik can't make good cookies."_

Okay, since that didn't get a response, now I knew something was wrong. I teleported to where I had last sensed his chaotic energy. Shadow's 'famous' gun was on the ground. Nothing else was in sight.

"Oh Chaos…" I teleported next to Manic and started smacking him to wake him up. "Manic, wake up!"

The poor hedgehog opened his eyes slightly, "Nik? Where-?"

"No time. What happened to Shadow?"

His face scrunched up in confusion then cleared. "The fox…did something."

I had been helping him off the ground at the time, but I let him go. He fell with a thump. "Hey!"

"Man up Manny! If they have Shadow…well nothing good can come from that."

Just then, Jr ran in with Miley in his arms. He gently put her on the ground and she smiled at me. "Well that was interesting. We got jumped by a bird." Her smiled faded when she saw the look on my face. It must have looked pretty worried. "What's wrong?"

"They took Shadow."

Miley and Jr shared a look of shock. Annie and Arnold joined a few moments later with an unconscious Topaz. They figured out what was wrong pretty quick.

"What happened?" Annie demanded.

A bit stuttered I explained best I could, leaving out certain details of Scourge's interesting conversation. No one really spoke for a moment then Jr broke the silence.

"Well, knowing Shadow, he'll probably get out within an hour."

"That is the smartest thing you've ever said," Annie replied softly.

So a little reluctantly, we began to leave the room…only one problem. Somewhere along the way to the front door someone (and when someone I mean Jr) triggered something and the next thing we all know; metal doors fall over the windows and doors.

I'm not sure how long we stood there, but the first noise we all heard was Annie yelling at Jr for his stupidity.

Miley broke them up pretty quick, "Guys! Stop it! It shouldn't be too hard to get out, and it can't get any worse."

Is there an unspoken rule that every time that's said that it gets worse?

Cue hidden gun torrent's and chaos control proof force-field around force field. Oh, and don't forget the ticking bomb and annoying automated voice recording of the villain's telling us to say goodbye to our lives.

After we took cover behind some crates, Miley frowned slightly. "Um…isn't that voice Eggman's?"

I think it was rather weird to be yelled at by a dead Eggman and him calling us Sonic the Hedgehog.

"It's Jr!"

"Um… You know he can't hear you, right?" Miley asked in a rather annoyed voice.

"Yes…?"

I rolled my eyes and attempted to teleport, then discovered the whole chaos blocked area. "Guys, I can't use my powers."

If you guessed that Annie started yelling at Jr, you win some prize…probably getting beat up by Annie.

Topaz decided to wake up at that point. "Ugh…what's going on?"

"Oh, we're just chilling out as guns are shooting at us." Arnold crossed his arms and glared at the said turrets.

The bat smirked at her brother. "Oh Arnold, why don't we say hello to them?"

At first he looked confused, but them he realized what she was saying. He smiled. "That is a great idea."

The two of them basically trashed the guns, leaving the bomb and and bullet proof metal walls.

I pointed at the bomb, "Ace, can you disarm that thing?"

"Um…" Miley walked around it, nodded her head and then shook her head.

"Which is it?"

"Well…" She hesitated slightly, "I can disarm it but we have to use the computer and the actual bomb, meaning I need two people."

"Great, just tell me what to do."

"Yeah, it's not that kind of bomb. You need to know math…and I mean Calculus 3 math. And to be completely honest, I can't hack a computer and avoid the firewalls while disabling a bomb unless I had an hour, and we have five minutes."

Everyone groaned

I attempted to contact Ethan, but apparently the walls blocked the signal. "What happened to Ethan?"

"Eh, he was chasing one of the people who attacked us and we lost track of him." Arnold shrugged.

Annie frowned, "I hate to break it to you, but that's not the current problem! I can try and diffuse the bomb, but Math is not my strong suit."

"I'm the same," Topaz spoke up.

I just nodded in agreement, but knew that wasn't Miley's best option. "Arnold, you wouldn't happen to be a hidden genius, would you?"

He gave a small smile, "Unfortunately, no."

The clock now read 3:50.

"I need at least 2 minutes to diffuse the bomb properly. Come on!" Miley wrung her hands in frustration. "You have to help!"

"Sorry, Miley, but I just can't." I frowned. "I really should have done better in math and science.

Ace rolled her eyes, "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to him!" she pointed at Jr.

No one breathed for a second then Annie fell over laughing. "What's he going to do? Add 2 and 2?"

Jr whirled around and smacked his sister. She shut up pretty quick. I'd never seen Jr look so mad in my life,

"That's it! I'm done! Annie, you don't know everything about me! Now shut up for once and sit back and stay quiet!"

To everyone's surprise (well not Miley's) Jr marched over to the computer and hacked into it. He and Miley then proceeded to try and defuse the bomb.

Yeah…really weird day.

At 0:15 the bomb still wasn't defused. Jr typed in a few things then yelled, "Nikki! You can teleport now!"

I didn't wait for another invitation, but teleported everyone out of the warehouse. We landed on a nearby roof then watched the building go 'boom.'

Ethan joined us at the ashes two minutes later. "Did I miss anything important?" He asked raising an eyebrow at the wreckage.

Jr shrugged, "Not really… We got out a catastrophic predicament, nothing really major. Although, I think it would have been easier if I hadn't set off the trap. Shadow got shanghaied, but other than that we are all in wonderful shape."

To those of you who don't speak Jr, shanghaied is a synonym for kidnapped.

Ethan glanced at me with a confused look, "I'm not going to even ask…"

"That's probably a good idea…"

Narrator's POV:

*Eight months before Arianna got shot*

Miley was working in her workshop when Jr stopped by to get his running shoes looked at.

"I swear, they're getting more friction then normal! I can't run as fast."

The fox smiled, "They're fine Jr. You just sometimes lose to your father. He is the original after all." She gave back his special sneakers.

"I didn't say I lost to anyone!"

"You don't need to Jr, I know you well enough to know that you lost to Uncle Sonic." She picked up her screwdriver and began to tweak her new watch design slightly. Miley dropped the screw driver and held up the watch to the light. "I think I got it…"

"What are you doing?"

Miley yelped in surprise and dropped the watch. Jr slid and caught it just before it hit the ground.

"Jr! I thought you had left!"

"Nope, I was wondering what you were making?"

She gently took the watch back and put it on a table nearby, knowing too well how often Jr dropped her Father's inventions. "It's a holographic watch. I'm hoping to use it on our next mission but I can't get the Toggle panel to fit correctly with the Widened Electrical wire. If I place it too deep, then it will overload the Gigi circuit-board. Not deep enough and there's not enough power. Then of course I have to get the Spiral crystal to fit with the mega switch without breaking the watches main frame and…" She stopped and looked over at Jr. "Sorry I forgot who I was talking to."

Miley began to tweak with her watch again while Jr stood behind her. He crossed his arms,

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

The fox sighed then put down her screw driver, "Well it just…everyone knows you aren't the brightest bulb in the world."

"So? Does that mean I don't enjoy hearing about your inventions?"

Miley froze then turned around very slowly, "You've never shown interest before…so I just assumed…"

"Look, I'm getting sick and tired that everyone assumes they know me. I'm not an imbecile!"

Miley raised an eyebrow, "Did you just say imbecile?"

Jr froze then slowly shook his head, "No…why would you think I said that?"

"Because you did…"

Jr didn't say a word.

Miley shrugged, "Fine…be that way." She went back to her watch. Jr watched her move around the workshop, grabbing a few things here and there; always returning to the watch.

Two hours later, Jr still hadn't left. Miley was now scribbling away on a whiteboard, which was covered in number's and algebra signs.

She frowned at the board. "I think I got it now…" Miley walked over to the watch and picked up her screw driver.

She began to tighten the bolts as Jr stared at the board. He frowned then his eyes grew wide. "Miley!" He dashed, grabbed her around the waist, took off across the room, pushed her against a wall then placed himself in between her and the work table, just as the watch blew up. And when it blew up, it BLEW UP. The table blew apart, spraying shrapnel that wouldn't kill, but would hurt a lot.

As the dust settled, Miley opened her eyes to find Jr right in front of her, his arms straight in front of him; hands pressed against the wall forming a bar on either side of her. His head was down, eyes still closed, but they slowly opened. He looked up, "You okay?"

Miley could only nod, as her words were chocked in her mouth. Jr stepped away from the wall and surveyed the damage, "Well…that's a mess. This is why you shouldn't work in the basement, no one hears you."

Sure enough, no one had heard the explosion in Miley's workshop.

The fox was still shaking slightly. "How- how d-did you k-know it was go-going to b-blow?"

Jr motioned towards the math board, "You forgot to carry the 2."

"I did?"

"Yeah, in the final equation you forgot the two on the Deprium Equality."

She just stared at him, "How smart are you really?"

Jr smiled, "Smarter than you think. I just play dumb since Annie was always jealous of my speed when we were kids. Just because we're always fighting, doesn't mean I don't care about her."

"Hold on," Miley put her hands on her hips, "You play dumb so Annie feels superior?"

"Well when you say it like that, it sounds rather dumb. But yeah, pretty much." He smiled at her, "And to completely honest, I didn't lose to my Dad or Shadow. I just wanted to see you… that is why I brought my shoes in."

Miley turned a little red. "Well thanks for helping me…not explode."

Jr smiled and turned to go, but paused at the door, "And if you ever need help on that watches math…well just say that my new shoes need testing." He winked at her then sped out of the room.

Miley stared at the door and then sighed. As she started to clean up, she had the feeling that Sonic the Hedgehog Jr was going to be stopping by a lot more. Her heart fluttered with anticipation.

"Let me get this straight," Nikki said in the cockpit of the _Tornado 7,_ "Jr and you started dating because a watch exploded?"

Miley smiled as the plane came to a stop in the GUN hanger, "Well when you put it like that…"

"It sound's rather dumb," Jr finished from the right wing. He hopped off the plane then raced over to the cockpit to help Miley out.

Topaz rolled her eyes. "You two are so weird…"

Annie just smiled, "I think it's cute…" Arnold helped her down from the left wing and smiled back.

On the tail, Ethan was trying to keep Manic from passing out…again. "I think he needs to see Cosmo."

"I'll take him…" Nicole grabbed the gray hedgehog's arm and teleported away.

Ethan watched where she had been a little too long.

"So what's up with you two?" Topaz asked with a sly smile.

"That's for Nicole to tell you, not me." Ethan shrugged. "I'm off. Tell Nicole I'll be here at tonight at seven for any new information. I need to go make sure Scourge isn't spreading lies about me in the mercenary community…" He ran off.

Topaz smirked, "They are so cute together…"

Annie and Miley nodded in agreement, while the boys rolled their eyes.

"Whatever…"

Up in the hospital, Cosmo ran into Ari's room as the hedgehog screamed again. "Ari! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"

The hedgehog sat up and started crying. "It was horrible…"

Cosmo hugged her friend, trying to comfort her. "What happened this time?"

"I- I'm not sure… I think I shot Sh-Shadow then dragged him to a cell or something…" She sniveled then started to calm down. "Why are these nightmares returning…?"

"Sometimes, it just take's time. I think you getting shot brought back some bad memories, now just lay here and wait while I get your dinner…" The fox patted her friend's hand then left the room. As she grabbed the dinner tray from the kitchen, she heard Nicole calling her. She raced into the other room.

"Nicole! You have Manic I see…how'd the mission go?"

"I'll tell you later, but Manic needs some…medical attention."

"Again?" Cosmo pulled out her stethoscope and inspected Manic. "I can't see anything wrong with him…He just needs to rest."

Almost immediately, Manic resisted. "I'm not staying here! Not again!"

"Relax! I'll put you with some company." Cosmo motioned for Nicole to stay put and lead Manic into Ari's room. She smiled at the girl, who looked a little less stressed. "You're going to have some company for a few hours. You remember Manic?"

The gray hedgehog smiled at the black and red one. "Hi again."

Arianna allowed a small smile. "Hi…"

Cosmo placed Ari's dinner on the side table. "I'll leave you two for only a moment…I need to go speak to another hedgehog." She frowned as she left the room. Part of her wanted to run back into that room and drag Manic out…although she couldn't say why. The fox tried to shake her uneasiness off, but she just couldn't get rid of the foreboding feeling that something was about to happen…something that she knew she'd regret.


	10. Chapter 10

**DON'T KILL ME. THIS CHAPTER ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER AND IT'S NOT A GOOD ONE. Just warning you right now. Hope you enjoy! (;**

Nicole's POV:

You know when someone gets kidnapped you need to rescue them. That's the truth and I'll never waver from it. But Manic's rescue is the only one that I've second guessed. If I had to do it again…I probably wouldn't do it the same way. For one, I'd make sure that Shadow didn't get kidnapped in his place. For another thing I'd…you know what? You'll know what I'm talking about it a minute…

Shadow's POV:

Being jumped is embarrassing…but being jumped by a fox that works for a hedgehog is just humiliating. When I woke up; tied up in a chaos control proof cage, I knew this was going to get interesting, rather quickly.

My brain was fuzzing and I was trying to recall exactly what had happened. Scourge had just started talking to Nikki when a noise behind alerted me of something off. I turned around and…

Frustrated, I punched the floor best I could.

Scourge poked his head in the cell window. "Well look who decided to wake up…Mr. Brooding himself."

I scowled at the green hedgehog, "Where am I? What happened?"

"Oh you'll figure it out pretty quick. You're brain still fuzzy? It'll clear up then your situation will clear up. Get the picture?" He smirked then disappeared.

I looked around, trying to find a weak point in the wall. Nothing. When I tried to find any hidden weapons on me, I discovered that my captor's had taken all of them. Even more frustrated, I banged my head against the wall I was leaning against. Not the best move…

Trying to not pass out, I shook my head, my thoughts clearing.

Again, I tried to recall what had happened.

 _I had turned around and found myself facing…chaos, that's impossible._

I felt even angrier with myself when I straightened that fact out then shook my head. _"No he wouldn't do that…unless…"_

I got up and slammed myself against the door. I'm not sure how many times I did that, but enough to get my ears ringing again. That wasn't the best move either. Reluctantly, I fell to the ground in defeat. "Maria…Cream…anyone. Help her, please…" I whispered softly as I blacked out from the pain.

Narrator's POV:

Cosmo went down the elevator and met Nicole in the kitchen. "Mission?" she asked.

"It could've gone better… Shadow got captured, shockingly. Scourge knew we were coming…the only people who knew about the plan was 2nd generation and Shadow…" Nicole hesitated, "We may have a traitor…"

"I doubt it…no one here would betray us. What about that mercenary Shadow hired?"

Nikki's head snapped up, "No! Ethan would never do that! He's too…" She blushed as Cosmo raised an eyebrow.

"Well my mistake. I'm sure Shadow can take care of himself…but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Ari's nightmares have been getting worse. Just before you got here she dreamed that…" She trailed off. Slowly, she looked up at Nikki, "How did Shadow get kidnapped?"

"Not sure…tranquilizer dart most likely… Why do you ask?"

Cosmos didn't answer immediately. "Ari had a dream about shooting Shadow…then dragging him away. I don't remember at any point when Missy did that in Ari's body so…why would she dream about that?"

Nicole frowned, a bit puzzled. "Okay…so maybe it's a coincidence. We can't get worked up over nightmares…"

Cosmo nodded slowly, "I suppose you're right. I'm sorry; I'm just wound up over Arianna. I just feel like I should have been there for her but…"

Nicole placed her hand on Cosmo's shoulder. "Don't worry. Arianna is tougher then she looks. She'll pull through this…eventually…"

Cosmo smiled at Nicole.

"AHHHH!"

Her smile turned into a look of pure terror. "Arianna…" The fox took off running as fast as she could, Nicole right behind her.

When Cosmo left, Ari smiled at Manic. "So what happened to you?"

"Eh…just got kidnapped by some crazy maniacs. Nothing to serious, only my dog got injured. Ethan told me he'd go pick him up from the mercenary hangout.

"You're a mercenary?"

"Sort of…but not really." He smiled at the girl, and then felt like a hammer just swung at his head. He reached up and grabbed it. "Awg…what is with this headache?"

"Headache?" Ari looked a bit concerned.

"It's nothing. It just comes then goes. Sort of in waves… Sometimes it hurt's like I just got shot, other time's it's just a dull throb… Kind of weird right?"

Ari didn't answer, but stared at him, her eyes wide. "Waves?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Manic…your gloves…"

"What about them?"

"There covered in blood…"

Manic looked at his black gloves, not seeing anything. "I don't see…"

"Not red blood, black blood…like my blood…and Nikki's…and…" She paused then whispered with fear, "Shadow's…"

Confused Manic squinted at his gloves. Now that she mentioned it…they did feel a little harder than usual. "I don't-." His head felt like someone had taken a knife to it. He grabbed it and fell over moaning in pain. His mind had a flashback of something he'd forgotten. Shadow in the ceiling…and Manic shooting him with a tranquilizer. The Ultimate Lifeform had hit his head on a bar, splitting it open. Manic had dragged him to a cell then…passed out.

"You're a little too smart for your own good Arianna…"

Manic vaguely felt his mouth move and his voice speak.

"Manic?" Ari whispered in pure terror. She tried to get out of the bed, but Manic had stood up and grabbed her arms.

"You know who I am, little girl…" Manic hissed in hatred.

Arianna struggled, but felt herself being pulled from the bed and lifted off the ground; Manic holding her arms up. "Manic?!" She asked a bit more panicked.

"Your boyfriend will be with you shortly, sweet Ari. A nice vessel to reach you, I might add." Manic tightened his grip on her wrists and brought her face level with his own. "Unfortunately for you, he's not who I wanted."

"Manic!" Ari almost screamed.

The gray hedgehog tusked the young adult, "Now, now darling. It's time for you to serve your mistress again."

Tear's streamed down Ari's face as she cried from the pain and fear. Her face was drawn and showed only terror and sorrow.

Manic smiled a very creepy smile and closed his eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Seconds later, Manic and Arianna dropped to the ground.

Groggily, Manic pushed himself up, "Arianna? Wha-?"

Ari stopped Manic's question by punching him in the jaw. She grabbed his arm and judo flipped him on to the ground and pulled a glowing black knife out of nowhere. "You've served your purpose. I have no need to keep you alive anymore." She raised it high above her head…

Cosmo burst into the room and tackled her to the ground. "Nikki! Help!"

Nicole was right behind her hand's already blazing with a gold glow.

Roughly, Ari threw Cosmo into the wall then faced Nicole. "Well, well, I'd love to kill you at the moment, dear Nikki, but I have other plans. Ta-ta for now darling!" She turned on the spot and vanished, just as Nicole threw her spears.

On the ground, Manic groaned then sat up. "What happened?"

Nicole walked over and helped Cosmo up, to shocked to speak.

"What happened," Cosmo looked at Manic, her eyes full of terror, "is that Mistress has returned."

 **Me: I'm so mean…**

 **Nicole: I'm going to kill someone.**

 **DW:…WHY DID YOU USE MANIC AS A VESSLE?**

 **Me: Well the original plot line would have taken WAY to long. To those of you who were wondering, the original was going to be a rival singer to Nicole name Tara. She was going to be possessed by Missy, but seeing as Nicole didn't turn out to be a famous singer…well it would have been awkward. Thus Manic suddenly got pulled into being a vessel. Just to be clear: Manic hurt his own dog; Manic was the mysterious stranger possessed by Missy; and Manic knocked out Shadow. Shadow figured out the Missy thing when he was captured and Cosmo figured it out from the dream and…well scream.**

 **DW: You made MANIC a VESSLE.**

 **Me: yeah well…Review please! And don't kill me.**

 **Nicole: I'm not promising anything… I'm killing someone in this story. I swear it.**

 **Me: Okay…I'm going to give her some therapy so until next time!**


	11. AUTHOR NOTE

**Hi everyone... I have some bad news.**

 **I'M DISCONTINUING THIS STORY.** **Some of you probably don't care, and I get that.**

 **Other's maybe like, "WHY!?"**

 **Here's why: this story is too long and too complicated for anyone to enjoy for much longer.**

 **I am truly sorry. To try and not leave you on a cliff hanger I have included a GIANT summary of what was supposed to happen. WARNING: READ AT YOU OWN RISK OF SANITY AND PATIENCE.**

 **To those of you who aren't going to read it or if you are: Thanks for reading and following me. If you want to continue reading my writing, I've been posting a Sonic and Tails brother story called, "Miles From Home." Hope to see y'all there! Thanks' for all the reviews and comments! Love you all!**

Alright so I left off with Arianna get's possessed a second time...oh boy... This is going to be really, really, long.

Okay, so she goes missing for about two months and during that time Manic almost has a mental break down (because he has had a similar experience in his past when he was brain-washed and it ended up with him almost killing someone...so he feels very very guilty about Ari's current state) and Nicole is basically an emotional wreak because she can't lose her sister again. Shadow is sort of quiet about the whole thing, but helps Nikki in any way he can.

So after these months, Missy finally shows up and destroys a GUN facility, almost killing Dr. Anderson and Cosmo in the process. On the inside, Ari is now starting to fight Missy stronger than she did last time. So basically Missy is starting to lose her grip on the girl.

One month later, Ari has almost regained complete control. In a desperate gamble, Missy try's to posses Nikki again, and actually succeeds because of Nicole/Ethan's past relationship. Missy basically convinces Nikki that if Shadow ever found out he would never forgive her, etc. After taking control of Nikki, Missy completely takes out second gen because of all these personal talks Nikki had with them (like the fact that Jr and Miley are dating, Topaz knows she won't be the guardian, Arnold is missing Angel Island, etc. Not all of those were posted yet.) and when Ethan try's to stop her, she turns into Charity and he can't fight her. Ari is to weak to fight.

Basically, the person who stops her is Manic, who finds out that he has chaos ability's that are even stronger than Nikki's. He never knew about them and stops Missy destroying her permanently and freeing Nicole.

Then we have this cute little scene where Ethan and Nikki basically make-up and start dating again, with Shadow's approval.

And then there is another scene where Manic and Ari talk to each other and it's hinted that they like each other... Cute little couple!

That's the end of Returning Shadows...

Then we have Gray Shadows, which actually focuses on Manic more than anything.

So what happens is it's been about a year since Missy was destroyed and Manic is trying to get his powers under control. He's training with Nikki, Shadow, and Arianna when suddenly all four of them are transported to a Black Arms ship.

Now Nikki knows about them because of files, and Shadow knows about them because...well you know. Arianna and Manic have no idea who these people are. The aliens on board call them all by different names, all of them meaning something.

Shadow- The Lost (because he went down a different path then they had planned originally.)

Manic- Prince (you'll see)

Ari- The Chosen (you'll see)

Nikki- The Unturnable (there's no way they are going to change her mind about them. They already know that.)

Anyway, the four of them are basically taken to a giant throne room where the Queen of all the Black Arms greets them calling herself, Dark Destructa. She reaches out to Shadow, who she considers a nephew of hers, and congratulates him on his 'family' then tries to invite him back to his 'real' family. He doesn't share the same feelings and ends up being restrained along with Nicole, who shares his feelings.

Destructa also greets Nikki and just tells her how impressed she is with her ability's over the Chaos Force. She doesn't try to turn her to the Black Arms side.

Ari is treated as a very special person, and basically no one is allowed to harm her. The Queen just sort of ignores her for the most part.

Manic...well let's just say he and Shadow are more closely related then before. The Queen refers to him as her son and 'Prince.' Turns out that his Mother was actually taken prisoner by the Black Arms and her DNA and the Queen's DNA were basically melded into the consciousness of the Void, which is sort of like the space between dimensions and stuff. So Manic, is literally the Void thrown into a hedgehog body and is technically the Prince over the Black Arms. He's a Clone of his mother mixed with black arms DNA...it's complicated. He has no memory's as the Void, and his Mother doesn't remember being held captive or being a science experiment. It's actually kind of funny... Finally, Nicole finally finds a nickname that drives Manic crazy (Void Boy).

So all of this is explained and then...well Destructa basically tells Manic that it's time for him to 'come home and stop playing around.' And since it will take time to adjust, she is allowing one of his friends in the room to remain with him. (I think you can see why she only chose those three... Black Arms Blood, partial control over them... It's kind of annoying.)

Shadow tells him to choose the person who will keep him straight the longest, so Arianna ends up staying while the other two are sent home with a message: The Black Arms are returning to Earth.

So while Shadow and Nicole try to get ready for an invasion Manic and Arianna have to remember where their loyalties lie and try not to get brain washed...lovely time, I know.

Meanwhile, back on earth, Scourge made a short visit to the dimension and may have accidentally reported Nicole back to Prime with him. She's stuck there for about a year to her, but about six months to the rest of her friends.

When the Black Arms invade, Manic is up in the giant ship with Ari and he sort of...lost it. He actually almost kills Arianna, but wakes up right after he did the damage. In order to escape the ship, he kills Black Destructa and takes Ari to Shadow and Dr. Anderson who save her life.

As the next heir to the Black Arms, Manic basically banishes the rest of the race to the Void and says, "I'm still King, but I'm staying here." After Ari recovers, the two of them officially start dating.

Nicole shows up three days later really mad that she missed the action with the aliens. (she really hates the Black Arms...)

That's the end of Gray Shadows...

Man this is getting exhausting... *takes deep breath*

The final big story (there are a lot of small events in between all of these big stories) is called Dying Shadows.

I didn't do a really good job at hinting at this, but Nicole wants to be a protector of the planet because of this strange dream she had when she was eight. She vaguely remembers parts of it, but most of it is a blur. She had this dream after one of her first practice sessions with Shadow and when her energy went a little out of control.

Flash forward about a year after the Black Arms invasion. Ethan and Nicole are married (although on legal documents it says Ethan and Charity) and Manic and Arianna are engaged. Manic is forced to leave the dimension and seal off all doors to all dimensions because all of space and time is ripping apart. So he sort of leaves Ari alone and heartbroken. It's pretty depressing.

Two weeks later, a large energy spike is detected at 413 E Marred Rd, which is an old science lab. Second Gen moves into investigate. When they arrive on the scene, Nicole breaks off from the group and hears something in the vents. That's when her dream starts coming back, in small bits and pieces.

The 'something' in the vents, is herself as an 8 year old. You may see what's going on here.

To prevent the girl from panicking, Nicole calls herself by her middle name, Maria and basically says to past Nikki that you're with friends. (Past Nikki is going to be referred to as Nikki, and future Nicole will be referred to as Nicole or Maria) They take Nikki back to GUN headquarters and turn her over to Dr. Anderson until they can figure out what to do with her.

The next thing that happened, I don't actually have the details in ink. All I really have is that about three weeks later, a giant robot army comes out of no where, and 1st and 2nd Generation can't stop it. The bot's will not stop until every living thing is destroyed, then they will self destruct. The bot's are probably alien now that I think about it, and they produce to fast to destroy. For everyone that is cut down, twenty more are made.

This whole time, Nicole's 'dream' is coming back to her and she is encouraging Nikki to fight the good fight. On 4/13, she actually remembers the end of the dream and well...it isn't a happy one.

Nicole goes off on her own and basically teleports every living thing on the planet 24 hours into the future. Now the energy needed to do that is so crazy large that she has to take off her inhibitor rings and it pretty much disintegrates her.

When her friends figure out what she did, they try to find anything to see if she's alive, but all they find was her inhibitor rings. Shadow then wipes Nikki's memory temporarily and sends her back to the exact point when she originally teleported. (why didn't he do that sooner? I have no idea. Once again, this is just the summary not everything was refined.)

Arianna basically sinks into a pit of depression.

Ethan envelopes himself in the mercenary world, not really caring about life any more.

Manic somehow finds a way to return and reunite with his sweet Ari, but when he finds out about Nicole he shuts himself in his room for days.

Shadow... well Shadow sort of does something productive.

There was this lead scientist on Chaotic Energy and was one of Nicole's 'bodyguards'. His name was Shawn. Shawn showed up when Nicole was about nine and saved her life maybe hundreds of times, most of them she never knew about. Three days before Nicole died, he disappeared after telling Shadow, "You were always there." (yep, it's Shadow in a human form...didn't know he could do that? Disguise collar Anderson invented.)

One year after Nicole's death, Manic disappears into the void and comes out a few hours later. He drags Ari and Ethan to a nearby park.

"Arianna and Ethan I want you to meet someone."

"Hey guys..."

THE END

(Let me explain something right now: THAT'S NOT NIKKI. Well, that's not true either. That is Nicole, but it's not THE Nicole... Okay, let's start over. Manic is the Void and has power over dimensions. He literally wrote his 'Fathers' dimension which technically means he made his father figure out of matter...that's just weird. Anyway, so Manic can basically make people. So he went to the exact moment when Nicole died and basically grabbed her life force and pushed it into a body that he made out of matter. The body he made, is literally Charity. Nicole doesn't have her extreme Chaos power's any more though, in fact she is now mortal, meaning she ages normally now instead of very, very, very, slowly. And she can't fly any more or change her appearance at will. She's just Charity now. Chaos spears and extreme fighting ability's and that's it. She joins Team Sonic 2nd Generation...becomes one of the top agents of GUN.)

(Oh! One more thing! The other characters! Okay, Jr marries Miley, Arnold marries Annie, and Cosmo marries a fox name Genesis (Gen for short). Topaz remains single. Jr and Miley stay on as agents of GUN both of them are really involved in the science field, Arnold and Annie spend their days on the floating island with Arnold back as the Guardian, Cosmo is the head doctor at GUN with Gen as her assistant doctor, and Topaz is one of the top agents of GUN.)

OKAY NOW THE END.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED AND READ. LOVE YOU ALL!


End file.
